Triple-Sided Apocalypse
by MYSTERY READER the original
Summary: Taking place after Edward left, a virus has broken out. It creates the kind of zombies humans feared. With the food sources of traditional/vegan Vampires, and Werewolves/Shapeshifters compromised, and humans killing nonhumans, as well as the government's measures for containment, every fight for food, supplies or land is a fight for survival on all sides.
1. Month1,2,3-Day 1

Thank you for taking the time to read my first try at an apocalypse story. I take pride of being the first of it's kind on FF. As you'll find out later, I posted this to find out people's reaction to it because I had the idea of writing such a novel and so that is why I'm putting a copyright notice on this. You don't have to be of legal age to do it, this doesn't have to be registered to the Copyright office because it's already protected once it's written, and when it's posted under a psuedonym it's protected for 95 years, or if the author's real name is revealed, for the author's life plus 70 years.

Triple-Sided Apocalypse ©️2017, Starling Knight. All rights reserved.

* * *

January 14th 2016  
6:00 pm Startend corp.

"Abbott!" The biologist jumped, almost dropping the petri dish in his hands.

"Your report on the RFPZD strain was supposed to be on my desk hours ago. Where is it?!"

"I, uh, had to start over-"

"Don't lie to me Abbott! I've had to put up with your ass for seven years and it's the same with you! When are you going to grow the fuck up, and do what your told?!"

"But supervisor, it's still inconclusive; something went wrong and in order to give you an accurate report, I need to redo the experiment-"

"What happened."

"The test subjects have died."

"What could have possibly gone wrong with the first batch then?"

"I...I don't know but-but I know that this strain can have a cure!"

She shook her head. "I'll take care of it. You're hereby terminated Abbott." She said, pushing a cardboard box into his hands. "Check is in the mail."

"No! Please don't do this to me! Only I can create the cure! Only I understand-you can't do this to me!" He yelled after her.

"Pack your things and leave immediately. Don't make me call security." The man's expression darkened as he watched the woman walk down the glass hall, high and mighty with her shiny red shoes and french twist. He angrily tossed his few belongings into the box. He looked at prepared virus that sat in the petri dish. As an afterthought, he put one of the test tubes containing the RFPZD virus into a capsule and put it into the pocket of his lab coat.

* * *

DECEMBER

He's gone.

He's gone.

 _Dear Alice,  
_ _I don't know what to say and yet I have so much.  
_ _The emptyness is...crippling. It's hard to breathe, stand...  
It's just hard. __It could be the end of the world for all I care.  
_ _I love you, I need you, I miss you.  
_ _With all my love, Bella._

JANUARY

Losing Edward was awful, but remaining in their world is second best. Being totally shut out was much much worse. I was never normal anyway, normalcy isn't for me. I'll try to find one. Not just any 'mythological' creature will do. I had started looking into recents murders where the victims had strange or unknown causes of death, and looked into the hunting rates from parks all over the country. I guess I was subconciously thinking that I could know where they went. What I found instead were cases of people attacking others as if they were animals, mauling and biting their victims. I couldn't help but click on the video of the homeless man that attacked a jogger in florida, ignoring it's seemingly ridiculous title. At the same time, there was a disease now that was causing cats and dogs to die by the dozen. A dog owner was bitten and hopitalized but she was exhibiting strange symptoms.

FEBRUARY

Edward is gone.

Edward's gone.

I haven't been having much luck finding a vampire. It didn't help that the unknown disease outbreak was flooding the search results. People have been writing blog entries, making videos about theories, conspiracies that the outbreak was planned or was a terrorist attack. The people infected said they were in some type of crowded place before they got sick with flu-like symptoms. Some people have gone missing, relatives filed missing person reports, but they were later found in a hospital, delirious with no memory. At the top of the results was tally of deaths, both human and domestic pets, ranking the countries infected with the highest number first. It was in densely populated countries and spreading fast.

The subject was all over the town too. Everybody in school seemed to never tire of the prospect of the apocalypse being near. Missionaries preached on street corners that the apocalypse was here. But there was something promising; supposedly a 'chuppacabra' type creature was on the loose. There was a series of deaths all over the country where the victims were drained of blood. It increased my hope to finding another vegetarian vampire. There was also something about strange wildlife attacks on hikers. The hikers were missing people since.

MARCH

 _I expected more from you, Alice.  
Edward allowed himself to suffer 'alone', and that's why he didn't think of me when he decided to leave.  
I thought we were best friends Alice. Regardless of the reason, good to know it was easy for you to leave too._

* * *

I had finally come to terms with it.

I couldn't have managed the pain, the anger, or sadness without Jacob's friendship. I won't take back the way I used to be, I've become someone else. I've come to terms with that too, that I won't ever be the same again. I don't know what to live for anymore. I have to completely re-establish myself into the human world where vampires don't exist, but how can I when I know that they do and that our world is theirs too? I wish they were out in the open, they would be easier to find then.

I was making dinner. Charlie, Billy, and Jacob were coming up. I washed the vegetables with the TV playing loudly so I wasn't immersed in silence, inviting unwanted thoughts in. Charlie told me to lock the doors because lately there was a lot of break-ins due to the panic caused by the number of deaths from the unknown virus nicknamed 28days. After twenty-eight days the human patients died, pets died faster. People were acting as if it were the apocalypse, looting, attacking people for no reason, and robbing. Forks' police force, security guards, and park rangers were working together with Firefighters and volunteers to try to keep the peace and out of the forest, protecting them from infected wildlife.

Crime rate skyrocketed in many places but Forks is so small, and everyone knew that sort of thing didn't happen here. So he town was scared. People were often hurt, sometimes fatally wounded and it greatly saddened Charlie. It must be hard what with being the Cheif of Police right now; it's a good idea to have a dinner party, for Dad to just be himself and be with friends.

I left the front door open to air out the smoke from the burnt bread rolls, I put into the oven to crisp up, for less than five minutes while I went to the bathroom. I came back, hearing groaning on the way, and froze at the sight of what I could only describe as zombies. From the back of the house, three others broke in. It was said drugs or 28 caused people to act like this, impulsive and cannabalistic. I may be no expert, but these people were not human. One of them had red eyes; pieces of him weren't dangling off of his bone or rotting, but it's skin had a light red hue. And that was when I knew that I was in trouble.

I ran back up the stairs, aiming for my room, but they reacted quickly. While trying to get past each other, they pushed their way up the stairs. The red-eyed one was trying to pull the others back, ripping off pieces of them at the same time. He wasn't interested in their blood at all. I tried to keep them from biting me as I pushed them away, while trying to get away.

"Bella!"


	2. Chapter 2

Triple-Sided Apocalypse

Chapter Two

"Bella!"

* * *

It seemed like the illusion of the Edward who loved me came back at my time of dying. He pulled them off and twisted their necks until they snapped. How odd. Illusion Edward could never move from where he stood.

"Bella, thank _god_! Are you alright?!" He could never physically-

"Bella?" He said in a worried tone. I could feel his hands gripping my shoulders, I could see them. _He couldn't possibly be really here…_

A phone vibrated that he picked up quickly.

"I got her in time." He suddenly grabbed my head and turned it in one direction and the other while looking carefully looking at my eyes. _If he-If I can feel him then_ -

"Do you have any cuts, I need to know?" I shook my head my head slowly.

"She's clean Carlisle. I know. I'll get ready." I screamed when he put his arms under me.

"No! you cany be real!" I pushed him away, feeling how solid he was, and covered my head, not wanting to feel him.

"Bella, I'm so sorry…" He gathered me in his arms and held my head to his chest as if to protect my mind.

"I am truly, very sorry but we have to leave. I'm take you upstairs; we have to get you out of those clothes before you get infected." He said, carrying me up the stairs. I didn't say anything.

"I need you to change and pack what you can- Bella, are you listening, can you hear me?"

"You're..."

"I'm here, I'm sorry. I can't apologize enough, I promise-I swear I'm not here to hurt you more. Bella, we don't have any time,"

"Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme went to find Charlie and take him to the Quileutes. Jasper stayed just in case." I recognized Alice's voice but said Charlie's name.

"It's alright Bella, we'll find him. Let's get you ready," He put me back on my feet but kept his hands on my shoulders to keep my steady, while Alice rummaged through my drawers at lightning speed.

"What are you doing here." I said, not lifting my gaze from the floor to her.

"We came to save you-"

"You don't care." I said, blocking her hands that were going to pull off the shirt I was wearing.

"...That's not true. Did anyone from the Quileute reservation say that?" She asked.

"No. They don't care enough too. I'm asking, what are you doing here."

"We came to save you; I know that we were gone, I know what Edward did and that it must have hurt, but none of us stopped loving you. We never would."

"How does that explain how quickly you all left. Couldn't wait to leave huh?"

"That's not-we left before we could convince ourselves to stay."

"I told them to go." Edward said. I was quiet for a moment then scoffed.

"You." I tried to look at him, but my eyes fell down to his chest. "You must be so...so happy."

"I...I'm not. I was not, not for a moment since-"

"Since you've been gone I've had to deal with a lot of shit, you know that? But I should thank you, I learned a valuable lesson. Mind over matter."

"...Although I knew there was a possibility you would feel that way, and tried to prepare, I cannot deny it hurts. I'm sorry. I'll apologize every day; I can only hope the pain lessens. I daren't hope that you'll forgive me, but I can't live in a world where you don't exist. I want to keep you and your family safe. I owe you." Edward went into the hall and closed the door.

"Bella, I want you to know that I _did_ miss you. You're more than just my best friend, you're my family. Edward is in more pain than he let's on; you would have had to seen to believe just how much."

"Alice, I don't know what's going on. Things are happening, and none of it makes sense and-"

"Sh, don't worry." She said as she embraced me. "We're not going anywhere, I promise."

While I changed into thermals, two layers of jeans, and her leather jacket, she packed my school bag with underwear and shirts.

"These will do for now but they can still be torn by them and anything. You can't allow any wounds to be exposed to the air. Carlisle has been keeping tabs on the outbreak but there's not much to go on so far. I suppose we'll figure out more where we're going."

"To get Charlie."

* * *

We treaded carefully down the steps, but jumped onto the first floor skipping over the pile of bodies, myself in Edward's arms again. He smelled the same, wonderful, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe.

"We're going in your truck." Edward said. Alice rushed me to the back.

"Why mine, it's slow?"

"A truck will come in handy later." They both pulled out the bodies and piled them on the road and set them on fire.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"To keep the pathogens from spreading." Edward answered. "It's been spreading via coughs and saliva so far. We aren't sure if the virus can get through the skin or infect someone via their eyes."

"...what just happened did happen right? There's real, fucking zombies?"

"It just might be the end of the world as we know it."

* * *

 **Title TBD** , whatever point in time, present or future, send in any suggestions for a better title. Take your time, makes sense for the title to change when it's all done or close to being done.

So did any of you read the tenth anniversary of Twilight edition book **Life and Death**?!


	3. Chapter 3

To those who have read the first three chapters, this is chapter two and basically, it has minor changes, it can be skipped or skimmed.

* * *

Chapter Three

Edward drove my truck as fast as it would go down the street. Things looked relatively normal; every now and then cars passed in either direction but I did see one person run up the street like he was being chased. When we passed the corner, I turned my head to catch Katie Marshall's house. She would be at Newton's Outfitters Store, it was her turn today. I didn't have her number to warn her and the Newtons. We weren't really close, at least I wasn't to any of them anymore, but I still wanted to give them a warning.

As we drove close and closer to the Thriftway, Edward, Alice, and Jasper saw the grafitti, some were illegible, others said 'this is the end' and boarded up windows of both houses and stores. The heart of the town was usually fairly alive but a few weeks ago, when the crime and panic started, people turned in earlier. A curfew wasn't implemented by the authorities but advised by the news reporters and adults. Everybody went home soon after sundown and called each other to make sure they got home. I had to call Charlie before I left for school and when I got home. If he was working late, he'd check in. He could often have to stand guard at supermarkets, or smaller markets, and other establishments that decided to continue. Those ransacked while they were open boarded up their property and were still closed.

At the Thriftway lot, things were completely different. People screamed as they ran, clutching whatever they could grab from the grocery store, some with their own guns in their hands. All of the looters ran out screaming; those planning to go inside stopped and ran in the direction they come from. People fell and were trampled, some were attacked for their stolen goods. Then the things inside came out and chased or pounced on the nearest person, focused with the intention of eating the victim. An officer screamed at _them_ to stop, gun pointed. A scream made my wide eyes dart to it's source. The woman screamed in agony, trying to push _it_ off, as it burrowed into her abdomen. Bullets were shot, the popping sound rang in my ears.

"Oh my god..." Alice said.

"Emmett and Rosalie are inside. Charlie's in there-Alice, call Esme!"

"Edward, you gotta get Charlie!"

"STAY in here!" He urged and ran towards the Thriftway, taking a few of _them_ out. Alice pulled the door shut but hissed. The woman just layed there.

"Grr!" Alice groaned and slumped back into her seat. Jasper sat wide-eyed, not breathing. I turned.

"What's wrong?!"

"The blood, I can smell it!"

"W-w- it's gonna be okay, he'll be back." I said, more to myself than her. People kept running past our car. I jumped whenever someone ran over our car. Alice stopped breathing and called Esme.

Things weren't any better at the hospital. They were short staffed, despite the fact that most nurses were on call, even with EMTs helping. Now those EMTs had to leave to come here; an officer had called. The officers started screaming at the people to calm down, to stop running and screaming so they could help the wounded.

"Are they ok?" I asked lowly.

"They're fine, they're being careful of course. I told Carlisle about the vampire that attacked you. He's confused about it because vampires don't have blood, the venom changes our DNA. But-I can't find anything about it on the internet!" She said, her fingers tapping on her phone a little too hard.

"Th-they say it has flu-like symptoms, that it takes 28 days for it to get severe..."

"And they either die, go into a coma, or act wild; I meant anything about what it could _be_. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know-" Someone banged on the window.

"Bella, are you okay?!" Charlie's voice was muffled. I jumped out of the car and latched on to him.

"Are _you_ ok?"

"I'm fine, Edward said you were attacked at the house!" I nodded.

"I'm fine Dad, Edward got to me in time."

"I'm really glad he did." He said, turning to look at him. I could tell Edward was also suffering from the smell here; Rosalie and Emmett had gone into the car to get away from it.

"But Dad, what happened here?" I asked to distract Charlie from asking what I knew he was going to.

"I don't really know, I was here trying to keep it from being looted and had to call back up then all hell broke loose. Suddenly there was five of them. I have no idea what was wrong with them, they wouldn't listen." He said, troubled.

"Did you have shoot someone...?"

He nodded. "I don't suppose any of you would like to help us clean up here?" Everyone in the car shared looks then started pulling their shirs over their noses and tied their scarves over for extra measure. Ambulance sirens blared.

"We'll do our best." Edward said.

"We reallly appreciate it, you have no idea. I have to go, the EMTs are here." And he ran off. I pulled my scarf off and offered it to Edward, meeting his gaze for the first time.

"Thank you...Alice, Jasper, you two stay in here. Let's go."

Walking to the supermarket, I watched an officer with an injured arm move the uninjured to the otherside of the lot. Another, along with the EMTs moved the injured closer to the ambulances. Everyone cried and moaned, and screamed in pain when the EMTs assessed or moved them.

"Just holler if you find someone and collect tins, anything usable and whatever liquids you can find. Water is like gold now-" Chalie's radio chirped.

" _Were moving everyone to the school, and I mean everyone; At least we'll try. Meet us there."_

"Copy." He said. "You all heard, be careful."

"You too Dad." He hugged me quickly and jogged to the other side of the store. We split up into two groups to cover more ground.

Everything was spilled onto the floor. Jars were broken, bags popped, and all of their contents were out. Edward pulled a shopping cart right-side up again and we collected bottles of water, juice, cans of food that must have been dropped when _they_ appeared. It was obvious some of the damage in here was caused by the fight over it. The shelf of baby formula was almost empty.

"Thanks for saving him." I said, dropping some baby food into another abandoned cart, just in case.

"Your welcome." I wanted to ask where he was, what had he been doing all this time, but I wasn't sure I should. And we were busy.

When we met Emmett and Rosalie in center we pushed our carts out of the store. Already there was a pile of bodies in bags. The officer with the injured arm turned out to be Mark, one of Charlie's best friends. He sat at the end of the line, applying pressure onto his arm with someone's shirt, waiting for his turn. Those who were already treated were sitting or laid on the beds of the trucks here, except mine.

"Hey, you guys are fast." Charlie huffed. "Good; just load it up in your cars. Steve'll escort you to the school, stick close and be careful."

"Yes, sir." They said.

"I'll there soon, I'll find you."

"Yeah,"

"Now go." He said solemnly.

* * *

 **Thank you** everyone who followed and favorited, I hope you're having fun!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

After Steve and other volunteers added the baskets of produce they collected, we followed Steve in a single file, in three cars to the school. While we drove around it, I saw the people were being checked quickly for any symptoms by a few nurses, who were protected by cops, before they were allowed inside. They all watched us disappear around the corner, or maybe they were only looking at the remaining food. I personally didn't think we'd be able to feed those that were already here now for long.

We carried everything into the kitchens of the school's cafeteria and teachers cafeteria that was going to be used to feed the survivors here. They were connected, only seperated by a door so it should be big enough. It was a bit awkward; the other volunteers stole sideway glances at me but never said anything. Sometimes they stared at Rosalie who was in a bad mood.

"Did any of guys see 'em?" We were silent.

"I did, it was crazy. I mean, real fucking zombies!"

"The cops better have a plan." Another commented.

"Hey you, you're Swan's daughter right? Did he say anything?"

I shook my head. "But they're all working hard to keep everybody safe. We should just do what they say."

"Yeah, until people start killing each other over things. When that happens I'm out, every man for himself."

We finished carrying in the food nad categorizing them in silence. We were then taken through the back entrance of the gym; on this side were the people who were injured at the Thrifty, each person seperated by the blue, sterile cloths. I moved away and kept walking, trying to keep a distance, to where all the other cots were laid out. Some were already taken, by the people who passed the check point.

"Let's move to the corner there," Edward said, gesturing to the corner a few feet from the entrance. We'd have a bit of privacy.

"Is Charlie here yet?" I asked. If the injured were here, then so should he.

Edward shook his head. "I don't hear him."

"I don't see him. I have a headache." Alice said in surprise. I thought that was weird too, and noticed another weird thing: Emmett was more serious now.

"We have Bella right here, now can we go?" Rosalie growled. Edward kept unfolding my cot at human speed.

"We'll wait until Charlie appears, then we'll go."

"tsk."

Alice settled Jasper in the corner, the cot closed him in, and Em and Rosalie sat on the floor. Edward sat at the edge of the cot while I sat crossed-legged. He she his jacket and pulled a water bottle from the inside, draping the jacket over my shoulders.

"I'm going into shock."

"I know, you're good with weird." He said with a slight smirk. I smirked too.

"Bella!" I turned at the voice. Eric Yorkie ran to us in a torn t-shirt.

"Hey,"

"You made it, that's good." He said as he hugged.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're good too."

"Since when were the Cullens back?"

"We got back today, Carlisle was worried about staff at the hospital and wanted to help." He said. It was a bit flimsy but it flew past Eric.

"Where are your parents?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I was at the park with Connor and lost him when-Did you hear from the others? Angela?"

"Others-Mike, Jess, Lauren, and Tyler were going to the movies I think."

"That was two weeks ago Bella," he said shaking his head. "What about Angela?"

"...sorry."

"I wish you had a cell phone, I lost mine."

Edward gave him his. "Here."

"Th-thanks." He typed a number in and took a few steps away for privacy. I light went off in my head.

"Renée, I have to call Renée!" Alice tossed me her phone; it bounced off my hands a few times before I trapped it. It was hard, tapping the numbers on the touchscreen with shaking fingers. I made mistakes but finally did it. It just kept ringing. I tried again, and no one picked up. She often forgot to take her cell phone with her or charge it, so I tried the house phone. And tried it again. Nothing. Tears rolled down my face. I sniffed and took big breaths. I didn't want to cry now. Besides, Phil has a bat, she should be fine; he had vowed to protect her.

"Bella, I'm sorry; We can't save everyone. Even if one us went to Florida we wouldn't have been able to find her, we don't know where she is. Not to mention we'd expose ourselves and scare the public more. All we can do is hope she'll do fine."

But I knew my mother. She was strong, but not _this_ strong. The sobs started to fight back. "She could be dead already, or tomorrow, I may never see her. I should just..." I sat down and took a mouthful of water. Edward drapped his jacket over me again.

"I called everybody." I wiped away my tears before Eric saw. "Nobody's answering at the Newton's store, or the movies. Maybe they didn't hear. I can try later right?" Edward nodded.

"Listen, you guys mind if stick with you guys? I mean we're still friends right?" Edward nodded. Eric sighed in relief and pulled another cot close. I took one last sip of water before offering the water to him.

"The Newton's know how to survive in the wild and I'm sure Mike, Jess, Lauren and Tyler will stick together."

"Yeah," He said, taking the bottle. "And Angela's smart. She can hold her own till the cops get to her. I heard they're rounding everyone up. It's crazy..."

* * *

Almost an hour later, everyone who was outside was inside. There were kids, a few babies, elderly, teens and adults; most crying and more wounded were carried in as time went by, some groaning. People protested against it, demanded they be seperated, killed. As if it were so easy, like it didn't matter. Being given cots and blankets appeased for now.

I tried calling my mother and Phil, and added Jacob. Eric tried contacting everyone too. But neither of us got anything. We turned off the phones to save the battery. I wondered how long the phones lines would still be intact.

It didn't take long before the refugees started hounding the people who saved them again. They demanded answers, called all the professionals incompetent, demanded better care, food, water. The lone park ranger did his best to calm them, a female psychiatrist tried standing up for him. She tried to level with them and comfort them. The last thing we all needed was an uprising in here.

After a while those who came in sobbing and the impatient quieted and Charlie was back. They had covered a 5-block radius, going door to door. Tomorrow a few cops, park rangers, the EMTS and some volunteers with weapons trainning were going out and increase the perimeter. Eric and I asked him to look for our friends and their parents. I felt bad asking, I wasn't the only one doing it, but I needed to try, for them.

Another hour later, it must be late in the evening, it was announced that food will be distributed evenly. A cop stood on either side to keep the peace, in case what happened at the supermarket happened here.

"Don't push, don't cut in line, all with have their share." I heard one say. People were clearly disappointed with the rations.

I was at the end of the line with Eric; the Cullens claimed to be sick and unable to eat. When I got to the table, someone handed us a styrofoam tray with a plastic packet of utensils and we slowly made our way down. At the end, I had an apple, a carton of milk, a small cup of water, cooked spinach, and bread. It was slightly different from regular school lunch but it would make the supply last. I don't think companies will be delivering food as usual.

Everyone settled to sleep soon after. The Cullens pretended to sleep on blankets on the floor except Edward who stood guard. I had laid down to sleep too but sleep wasn't coming. I was tired but I was on edge to. I knew there were bad people, mildly bad at least like Lauren, but this situation opened my eyes to whole new world. Eric turned over and I couldn't help but smile at his mushed face, a little drool dripping from his mouth. I decided to focus on that.

* * *

 **Thank you** cinsygonzales, and tett20 for joining the group!  
Personally, I want you guys to find out about stuff as things happen, like the zombie behavior, but I will say that the people carrying in the food were checked before being allowed to help.


	5. Chapter 5 Day 2,3,4,5

Chapter Five

When I woke up the next morning, Eric was practically falling off of his cot and Edward wasn't sitting on mine anymore. Looking to the corner, the Cullens were still there, huddled in the corner. I still couldn't quite sigh in relief. Looking around around I noticed him in line, collecting breakfast, and ran to him.

"Morning," He murmured, in that soft, sweet voice I missed.

"Morning," I responded, voice cracking. I accepted a tray and followed suit.

"Did you leep alright?"

"Yes, you?" He nodded, huffing his laugh out of his nose. A clementine, a milk carton, and a tiny muffin. I wasn't hungry last night, but it caught up to me and was hungrier now. Oh well.

"Have you heard anything, through people's minds?" He _cringed_.

"What is it?"

"...I don't have high hopes for Forks." I wondered what he saw-it was definitely worse than what I have so far. I might cringe myself for the same reason one day.

"This is for you,"

"T-thank you, I-I knew that." I stuttered. Like that day, only a year ago, where he got me lunch, but it felt like forever ago.

"Where's Charie?" I asked, starting with the clementine from the tray he held.

"He's gone out again." My eyes fell to Alice; she and Jasper held each other close. Looking back at Edward he shook his head. I had wanted to ask if she could tell me if Charlie would come back safely, but I think it meant she was seeing awful things too.

"How's Carlisle?" I whispered, though it didn't matter.

"I can't hear him clearly but I know he and Esme are safe. Carlisle will make sure they return." Knowing what I could, it was safe for Eric to be awake. As we ate, those sick and injured on the other side of the room began to wake. They coughed and moaned as they did. These sounds in this quiet gym that echoed off of the walls made me feel uneasy.

Charlie and his force came back one short, with a small group of people, all with blood splattered all over them. After their clothes were taken and they had changed could Charlie say 'hey'. This time, there was no one we knew in the group. Port Angeles was an hour away. 56 miles. No way Mike, Jess, Lauren or Tyler could make their way here on their own. Most abandoned their cars then, at the Thiftway, maybe they did too. Hiding was their best bet but I wasn't sure.

I tried to stop Charlie from leaving for the second round of checking. I wasn't sure he'd come back this time and I didn't want to find out if he didn't. It was Waylon, a really close friend, who was lost. He gripped my hand that was clutching his jacket and told me he needed to go. He kissed my forehead and left. I wrapped my arms around me and hugged myself. Eric gripped my shoulder and I mustered a half smile.

"How are _you_ doing?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"I'll know once your dad gets to my house."

* * *

The next day was the same. And the next. And the next.

Most of us were hungry now, the rations only holding us for two hours until we got hungry again. I felt bad that I was paying attention to my hunger; it wasn't important. The Cullens couldn't keep from eating for long; the people who served us noticed. They claimed to have allergies, so they could only get certain things. Things that they try to give to me but I felt guilty having. Instead, the little muffins and school apples I used to hate were hidden in my backpack. I poured their cups of water into the water bottle Eric and I had shared that first day.

The other refugees weren't immune to the hunger, on top of feeling suffocated, caged in (none of us were allowed to go anywhere else but the bathroom and still had to be chaperoned), more sick people brought in, feeding the fear, and the wailing cries of hungry children made things worse. Out of hunger and annoyance they screamed for the care taker to shut the kid up. Some of the kids were now in the care of an adult appointed by one of the officers, their parents not yet found. Others yelled back, 'shut the fuck up, we're ALL hungry!"A fight 'naturally' ensued. It was diffused but we were all rattled by it, already on edge as it was. At night, people prayed furiously, I wasn't sure if they knew we could hear their whispers, rocking back and forth.

Half of the gym was now filled with sick or injured, or both, people. Before they took up only a fourth of the room and there was a gap between us. Now the cots were merely seperated by a plastic curtain. Carlisle called Charlie and by his advice, we were all moved into classrooms on the second floor. The gym was now only for the unhealthy and others had to be away until further notice. Those who were against helping them at all expressed their relief without hindrance. After finishing setting up our area, the teens group, we're able to got to sleep.

* * *

This time around, on the fourth day in the camp or fifth day since Forks was attacked, Charlie brought a few familiar faces. Jacob and Quil. When I saw him I realized I hadn't thought of him or Billy or Quil or Embry. The Cullens were here not that, that was an excuse. He hugged me tightly, picking me up from my feet but staring at the Cullens with cold eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't get a 'hi' when I came to save you Bells?" Jake sid, flashing his white smile.

"Hi, Quil." I said, greeting the one other who followed him.

"I caught them driving up the road," Charlie said in a scolding voice. "You need some real clothes." The cutt off shorts weren't recommended by the 'medical officials' we had on hand.

"Jake, Quil you know the Cullens."

"Yeah," Both sides gave each other a stiff nod.

"How did Billy let you come?" I asked.

"Didn't ask permission. It hit the rez but Forks looks worse. I wasn't kidding Bells, you should come back with me; you too Charlie."

"Can't son, I've got a job to do. Besides, the reservation isn't big enough for everyone; everyone is my responsibility. We were told to stay put by state officials so...How's Billy, and the rez holding up?"

"...not good. We never expected zombies would exist so we never built a fence. It's as ravaged as Forks, being cornered with forest and the sea but Billy and I were staying put until I left. I'm guessing the others are in their basements too."

"You should go back Jacob, the two of you, if it's safer than here; we have limited resources as it is." Jacob looked between me and Edward and back.

"I'll take you back later."

"No worries Charlie; I think someone's calling you Chief," He alerted. Charlie looked behind him and got up again with a huff after just being able to rest for a few minutes after making it back. The air in our little corner grew tenser.

"One time wasn't enough? Had to come back to rub it in bloodsuckers?" Jacob said lowly.

"Jacob!"

"So they've bred," Rosalie said.

"So long as you freaks are around, so will we."

"That's low, you don't know anything." Quil said at the same time. Edward's lips fluttered, no sound that I could detect but Rosalie flipped her hair and sat back. But Jacob must have heard.

"How the hell do you know that?" Jacob growled.

"I read your father's mind once."

"So the legend is true..." Quil gasped almost in fear.

"Hey, what's with the attitude?"

"He didn't tell you?" Edward aksed, a little smug.

"Tell me what?"

* * *

 **Sowwy for not updating...sowwy, sowwy, sowwy...thank you cecilia4059, Kaycy, and Ruthers12 for following/'favoriting', I appreciate it, I hope you have fun!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Tell me what?" Jacob gripped my wrist and Edward stood up, but he couldn't look down at him because he was the same height despite being two years younger.

"Remember the legends I told you, about the Quileutes?" Jacob asked.

"...The Cold Ones?"

"I guess I understand why that's the one you remember. I can't tell you myself, I'm supposed to keep it secret. But I told you before." He took a break from staring Edward down to urge me to remember, as if to say 'before he says anything'. I looked down, eyes darting. His voice from my memory muffled 'spoke' as I looked at him.

"...the Cullens...don't come here...werewolves?"

"I at least had the curtesy to try to keep her safe, but you didn't even give her a warning." Edward said.

"Too bad you weren't gone before you let that blooksucker beat her up."

"Quit talking about me like I'm not here! What of it? So he's a werewolf and you're a vampire, if there's witches too then whatever! What does this have to do with anything?"

"He'll tell you that when he's ready." Edward said, as if he were doing Jacob a favor.

"I came because I can keep you safe, I didn't know _they_ were back but that doesn't change anything." Jacob said.

"To protect Billy he suddenly shifted. Anyone related to anyone who's related to the Blacks, Aetera's, Call's and Uley's have the werewolf gene." Quil explained.

"You and Embry too?"

"Yeah but we haven't seen him yet since we thought he was recruited by the Uley gang. But I guess he's been fine this entire time and must be holding his own now."

"...Anyway, it's good to see you guys are okay but...shouldn't you be helping the elders in La Push?"

"So you're staying with _them_?" I shrugged.

"Like Charlie said, you can't stay; Maybe this will get better and you can visit. Until then, Billy needs you. You're all he has and you can't leave him alone."

"...fine, but if anything happens, you know where to find me." I nodded.

"Guess we'll wait 'til Charlie's back." He huffed, and flopped onto Eric's cot. Quil sat down more gingerly.

When Eric came back from the bathroom, I introduced him and they tried to pretend to the best of their ability to get along.

Charlie wasn't back when Lunch time rolled around. Of course, people rushed to get in line. I let them cut me and apologized to a girl I bumped into as a result. She mumbled, 'it's okay' and lowered her head. She seemed a little odd to me, like her clothes weren't meant for her though maybe she needed to use the rescued piles of clothes but she had her hood on, actively hiding her face with her hair as well but shrugged it off.

Even a while after lunch, Charlie wasn't back. Jacob and Quil got up to leave on their own when the fire alarm sounded and the sprinklers went off.

"What the hell...?" Everyone else groaned or said their own versions of 'what's happening?'. A few walked into the hall to try to find someone. They exchanged a few words with others from the other rooms who did the same, but in the silence that followed we heard screaming. It was coming from the first floor but we couldn't hear what was being said. It got louder and louder, and so did the running footsteps.

"...!"

...

"rur-rahh...!"

...

"GUREAH- _UN_!" The man ran down the hall, no longer screaming words, while we looked at each other unsure of what we heard. But the girl I had seen before made her way out, and then Edward was pulling me out the room yelling: "Everyone go!" I ran as fast as I could to keep up with his slightly faster than human speed and looked behind me. Behind Jacob the other people were beginning to move and _they_ were falling out off the doors of the stairwell in that end of the hall, the horde having run into them. Screams erupted and in the same second they dropped everything and ran or climbed over each other to get ahead. Rounding the corner Edward swung me onto his back and ran lightning fast into the stairwell at this end of the hall, where the girl disappeared into, down to the first floor.

We caught up to her at the bottom, she glanced at us but kept running down the hall, sticking close the wall, footsteps echoing loudly. We were on the far side of the gym, far from the side where the sick-or should I say _infected_ \- were. The screams were ear-shattering. And _they_ didn't scream. The people who cared for them until now were being devoured alive. Without thinking I looked through the windows. Some turned around and looked at us straight in the eyes when we came into their view. The girl's footsteps boomed as loud as my heart. One was Mark, arm dangling by an artery, half of his face eaten. _Where's Charlie..._ I thought as they started sprinting towards us. We passed the windows quickly and ran into the street.

Wide-eyed, my head fell onto Edward's shoulder while screams rang in the street, coming from inside the building. I could hear their growls coming after us, the screams of people clear as day. which was odd, then a loud thud. They had jumped from the windows. I could hear Jacob and Quil huff little cries as they ran at their full speed. I looked back, and the strange woman was far behind, running with a desperate look in her eyes. Those with all four limbs were fast, the ones with both legs and a missing arm or both gone struggled, while the rest missing large chunks lagged. Jacob had seen her too and shapeshifted, his skin shredded, revealing a large beast. He knocking her over onto his back and bounded to us, catching up in no time.

My eyes followed him, He spared at look before turning back to the road. I stared, not paying anything attention to anything else.

"Breathe Bella!" I heard Edward urge.

* * *

 **Charlie's dead.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Breathe Bella!" I heard Edward urge.

* * *

I hadn't noticed I was almost hyperventilating. I tried to regain control of my lungs that heaved as if I've been running 5 miles an hour.

"I think we lost them," Emmett said, Eric knocked out by him, hanging over his shoulder.

"We have to get to Carlisle!" Alice said. I looked at the strange-girl. She was limp on his back. He just looked like a blown up version of a regular dog. Was it strange it didn't scare me?

"The hospital was overrun. It was _filled_ with those fuckers!" Rosalie added.

"Are we going there?"

"No, we're meeting at the house." Edward said. "We have to get out of sight and far from here or they'll find us." He glanced behind him quickly.

Forks Hospital was only 9 minutes from the school so that horde could make it onto the street we were running on, if they weren't ahead of us already. Leading, Edward turned onto the field that surrounded Forks High School and the elemntary school that sat behind it. Angela's twin brothers went to school there. It was empty now. But what happened to the children bsck there...?

Trespassing on the property of the homes here, we crossed into the forest and ran in a corner, seemingly north, not slowing down. Jacob and Edward traveled over the knocked down trunks and boulders carefully, everything was wet from the early morning rain and the moss slippery. I shivered from the cold, my clothes wet from the sprinklers and the 50 degree weather keeping them cold.

"Should we stop?" Edward asked.

"No, I'm fine. Is Eric?" He had been out for a while now.

"He'll be waking up soon." We stopped, apparently not far from the Sol Duc River we had to cross to get to the Cullen's house. Eric and strange-girl were laid on the wet ground and Jacob shifted back into himself, or human form. He was both. I looked away because he was naked. He was given something and I heard him pulling it on. Looking back, it was Quil's shirt he had stretch to wear as a skirt. He looked like his ancestors might have, in their leather 'skirts' and loose, long black hair.

He looked at me intensely.

"W-what?"

" _You're_ the one looking at me." I blushed and turned away. I had always thought he was beautiful in his own way, perhaps at the same level as Edward if I allowed myself to be honest.

"Like what you see?"

"Gross Jake."

"What, I'm not you're type of monster? Isn't that a double standard?"

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"They're vampires, they _feed_ on humans, kill them, and it's me you're staring at."

"Sh! Keep your voice down or they'll hear!" I said, gesturing to the two knocked out bodies. "The Cullens never killed, or fed on anyone."

"Do you honestly believe that?" He then looked at them. The others didn't look at us, or moved, or made any attempt to defend themselves; Edward had turned his head.

"Of course we have, we all did, but that doesn't mean we aren't sorry." Edward said. Jacob scoffed.

"We regret it and work hard everyday to resist." I stared at him. His expression was somber, his eyes that have now turned pitch black made it seem as if I were seeing a diffferent side of him.

"How many." Jacob demanded, obviously disgusted.

"Nine." Edward's eyes shifted to me.

"And then you...you come into Forks and try to live with your food."

"They aren't food to us, it isn't lost to us that they're people! It isn't lost to me that I could kill her any second if I wasn't careful enough." He growled, baring his fangs at Jacob. I barely got out of the way when he charged, picked him up from the floor, and pinned him to a tree behind us.

"Our nature is part of the reason why I left. I tried to stay away. I _tried_. You don't know anything mutt so you best keep your opinions to yourself!"

"Edward, don't!" I said, a hand gripping his forearm. My hand slipped off when he let him go, and he shook his jacket, still angry.

"I don't think we should fight right now, we're all in a lot of trouble; there's no time for whatever this is." I said.

"Vampires and Werewolves were always mortal enemies, since the begining of time. Our curse is because of them. So long as they exist, so will we."

"It's no curse from us but one passed down to you by your ancestors."

"Both of you shut up! I don't give a fuck who came first, the chicken or the egg; it doesn't matter!"

"He's waking up." Emmett warned. Eric started waking up, groggy as if he'd been asleep for ten hours. When he could see us he started backing away.

"Whoa! You-gah!"

"Don't freak out-"

"How do I not freak out-why are you...!"

"Do I knock him out again?" Emmett asked. Eric jumped away from him.

"Did you see that!"

"Yeah, I didn't know either."

"I mean he-he turned into a...a..."

"Werewolf." Jacob said for him.

"More like shapeshifters." Edward corrected. I stared them down.

"What about you?" He looked from Edward to Emmett who he was running beside until Emmett knocked him out because he was slow.

"Vampire." Emmett answered.

"No way..."

"Look where we are, it's not impossible." Quil said, arms at either side as if to say 'look where we are now'. Eric was silent but his mind wasn't.

"We don't feed on humans. We have a common enemy, those back at the town. So let's try to keep calm or they'll have an advantage over us."

"You can read my mind?" Edward shrugged.

"Are you a vampire?" He asked me.

"No, of course not. We'll explain later, right now we have to get to the Cullen's house." I said, walking towards strange-girl who was coming too now.

"Who's that?" I shrugged as I helped her to sit up. Her hood had fallen off and I could see she was in her mid-twenties with disheveled short hair hanging over her face.

"Here," I said, unscrewing our bottle of water. It was barely half full but enough for her.

"Thank you. You're Charlie's daughter; sorry about what happened." I let that last bit go over my head.

"I'm Bella, these are my friends-"

"I know, they're Dr. Cullens children and..."

"That's Eric, a classmate." She made an odd expression as she took another swig when her eyes moved to Jacob.

"I'm Nikki, short for Nicole. I used to work at Forks Hospital," She said it as if it was long before the attack.

"I left the hospital when suddenly we were putting in another patient in each room only meant for one. I figure something was wrong; we were getting inundated fast. A few weeks ago, someone with the same symptoms like the others was admitted. He got increasingly worse and would spit out liters of blood. It covered most of the floor and there were even splatters on the windows. A big range which definitely isn't normal.

He was moved into a quarantine unit but really it was just a room on the far side of the hospital, because of how much of the stuff he'd cough up. But it didn't seem to affect his motor skills, loosing so much blood. He coughed up blood a few times and seemed to do it on the personel on purpose. Those people got sick too. Carlisle was doing his best, telling us what to do, seperating patients. But it spread fast and I left because I was scared I would be next.

I saw them face to face, when I was trying to load my grandparents into the car, trying to leave. But I couldn't..."

"You don't have to tell us," I said, as she took another swig, blinking her tears away.

"I wanted to hide in Forks high school, thought I'd pass for a teen." She explained, pulling the large hoodie she wore. "The point is, that guy was already contagious within the day he was admitted. And 'died' 10 days later."

"I thought they said with took 24 days?" She shook her head wildly.

"The symptoms are similar to that of rabies. 24 days is the longest recorded time that someone took to die from it, but it varies widely; 2-12 days even with the standard procedure to treat it. I don't think it's regular rabies though. We were told to keep up the lie the government told the news to say, an order passed down to hospitals, to avoid mass panic.

They're infected immediately, either as soon as they're bitten or within 24 hours. It bypasses the immunue system by going into the nervous system, not the circulatory system, and moves straight to the front part of the brain which controls memory, emotion, problem-solving, apetite and motor function. That's why all of those people were acting strange:running or acting strange in the streets, attacking people, trying to eat them, or were suddenly more reckless than usual, eating more.

It must also be able to get into the brain stem if they can run like a normal human. They must still be getting oxygen and their heart must still be pumping blood throughout their body. The brain stem controls that.

Some had mildler symptoms, you would think it was the cold or flu and not this 'rabies strain' that has been spreading around- It _mutates_ like the cold, the symptoms are different in everyone. It could take longer than a day for someone to exhibit symptoms and people get close to them. If they kissed...it's over. Afer infecting the brain it moves on to the salivary glands; that's why they bite and it infects their victim."

 _Like vampire venom..._

"Like I said, it mutates; the virus changes so it can infect the host faster. And when it does, when that person infects another, that new victim gets sick even faster, their 'death' closer. And so the time frame gets shorter. Back at the school, it took five days for them to be completely lost; but they were infected since they were bitten, spat on or whatever by _them_. Meaning that even though they're still human, they've already been hijacked. That's the fucked up part. They're not exactly brain dead, they just don't have control anymore."

"So then..." Quil started, voice wavering. He didn't finish but Kikki nodded as if knowing what he was going to say.

"Soon it will be instantaneous. I give it 24 hours max."

* * *

 **It** was kind of fun researching viruses, finding a good one, and how it infects people. But I found surviving is harder.

I've been thinking of renaming this fic **In A Heartbeat**. Like the 28 days later theme but also because in a heartbeat, the virus washes over the brain, in a heartbeat they're infected, and in a heartbeat someone could be lost forever. If you have any ideas, feel free to put them in a review, thanks.

PS: I hope you like the cover photo for the fic, it's actually trees with red leaves but I chose this because it looks like blood splatters and to continue the theme of nature from the twilight-verse. Also, sorry if there's typos and I hope you comment something, it's almost 2k words this time.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Soon it will be instantaneous. I give it 24 hours max."

* * *

Nikki had given us a lot of insight, but it wasn't exactly easy to swallow. We wished we could changed clothes but Edward advised to do that later. She was silent but I was sure she saw Jacob as a wolf though she didn't say anything, just walked on the far side of the group. Edward and I had exchanged looks, unsure of bringing it up and explaining it to her but she seemed to have been through enough. She'd find everything out later.

"Still bit of a klutz," Edward commented, grabbing my elbow and saving me from myself for the sixth time.

"Nothing really changed." I admitted, smiling in embarassment.

"I'm glad." I didn't dare to look at him. But I was glad to be close to him. If only he would hold my hand. Could I forgive him for leaving? Or was I only looking for comfort now that...Charlie's gone. I may not have seen it but I was sure. I was thankful I didn't have to witness it. A memory of the zombies turning to see us running past them replayed in my head. They themselves made a lot of noise and yet they heard us, Nikki, Eric and I since the Cullens made no sound. _They're not brain dead..._

"So they can still hear, the zombies," I said out loud.

"Yeah, they have all their senses, except maybe taste. The brain stem is what contols that, I guess I missed that." Nikki said.

"I meant that their hearing is good. We were running on the other side of the gym but they heard us from almost a football field away."

"...then that means any sound we make, if they're close enough, they'll hear and run to it." Suddenly the three humans tried not to snap any twigs with our next step.

"Shit, shit, shit! They're like the 28 weeks later zombies; super fast!" Quil said, pulling at his hair.

"...after we pick up the supplies you guys say you have, then what?"

"We should stay away from populated areas, the zombies would stick close to them because of the sounds or smell of humans." Jasper said. He had been quiet this whole time so we all looked at him.

"Do you think they have a heightened sense of smell?" Nikki asked.

"Other things do."

"I-I don't think they do." She said, answering her own question. Our walk was silent since then.

It's hard to explain, the 'lost' feeling. Even though we knew where we were headed, we still felt lost.

It's quiet. There's no birds chirping, just the rustling of leaves and the sound of rushing water at a distance. It was the Sol Duc river which we had to cross to get to the Cullen's house. Since our clothes were already wet, might as well. It was a few meters wide but knee deep so we didn't have to swim. But it had a bed of rocks; the humans had to step carefully.

* * *

We've been walking for a while now; With the trees and clouds in the way, it seemed like it was night time already but it couldn't be later than 6 o'clock.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Eric asked.

"Yes, a few more meters." Edward answered. Jacob and Quil have had a side conversion of returning to the rez but with town over run by zombies, there was no way.

Soon the tree line broke, and we were on the Cullen's lawn, their house with the lights on was like a beacon of hope.

Carlisle and Esme were in the living room, a pile of backpacks on the couch. I wish I could say seeing them made me feel better, I was relieved they were alright yes, but they too had troubled eyes. Esme Hugged me and Edward, and Carlisle checked to see how they fared having to resist feeding for so long.

"Good to see you're all alright," Carlisle said. "Nikki, Eric." He nodded at Jacob and Quil.

"There are still clothes upstairs, you should change before you catch cold." Esme said softly. "Emmett's clothes should fit you two boys, and Rosalie's you. It's been so long Bella," She haid, hugging me tightly again.

"You're telling me." I said. I tried to push the lump in my throat down. Esme had become a mother to me, even slightly more than my own was. When Reneé was threatening to take me to Jacksonville, and actually came and started to pack my suitcases, I had needed her more then and more and more after. Needless to say she and I didn't speak much after that.

"I missed you." She stroked my hair.

"I'm glad you're both ok, Vampires can get infected too. I saw one a few days ago." I said, gaze shifting between them.

"Edward told us, I'm afraid things will get much much worse from here." Carlisle said.

"Come on Bella," Alice called.

She had already changed out of her wet clothes and took me into her room.

"I wish I could blow dry your hair," She said, shaking my hair as the appliance blew hot air and I pulled on a pair of Rosalie's pant's on.

"I could use a distraction."

"You must be hungry," Not only were their eyes dark, but the backs under their eyes looked bruised.

"...That's the scary part, you heard how quiet it was outside. Animals are sensitive; no doubt they ran away when they heard the screaming." She huffed a breath. I pulled the collar of my new hoodie forward to try to help.

"I know none of you guys will eat us but...it's okay if you want me to, you know."

"It isn't, not to us." She said sadly, focusing on winding the cord around the blow dryer. "We _are_ sorry; nothing we do will ever make it right. Not even an eternity dealing with our affliction."

"I can't even imagine what it's like, so even if I witnessed it happening, I wouldn't say or think anything. Jacob isn't usually like that,"

"Oh Bella, we left you alone and you had to run to the arms of a dog."

"Come on," I half-heartedly scolded. "He kept the pain away, so, be nice."

"We'll be as nice as he is." She then winced and rubbed her temples.

"A-" Edward had opened the door.

"Let's go," I looked back at Alice but she was smiling and skipped out of the room.

"Do you mean what you said?" He asked softly.

"I always mean what I say." I said, and hurried down the steps.

* * *

 **I** couldn't get the image to upload, not my fault but I'll keep trying since it's actually really cool XD. Thank you so much for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"I always mean what I say." I said, and hurried down the steps.

* * *

Esme had made cold sandwiches for us, something we were grateful for after five days of rations.

"Nikki, are you experiencing any symptoms of Hypovolemia?"

"I'm not in shock Dr. Carlisle, I already checked before." She said around a mouthful.

"No hallucinations...?" He prodded.

"...no. He's a werewolf right?"

"Yes...?"

"Then no. You saved my life," Jacob puffed up his chest.

"Yeah, I did."

"I still think it's...not right but thanks."

"They're vampires!" Eric suddenly screamed. Startled I turned; he was wide-eyed, covering his mouth with his hands. Nikki was silent.

"Sorry." He said.

"You?" She asked me.

"I'm human."

"I knew there was something up," She said through a grin. "With all due respect, you're too good-looking Dr. Cullen."

"Yes, well, good thing there's no need for concern." He glanced at me. Nikki grasped this as well as I did.

"Mmm, sorry for passing out then; but I'm over the initial shock. Though, where are you guys headed?" She asked, gesturing to the pile of packed hiking backpacks.

"We have been thinking Alaska, we have friends there in Denali but it's far. However, we can't stay here."

"Why can't we stay here?" I asked.

"Though this house has rolling gates which would protect us, we need to go to a place that the virus hasn't touched; more for our sake. The animals here have already gone; Alaska has more acres of forest. We may be able to survive ourselves. Their home is at the top of the highest mountain in Alaska; this flu-like virus might be able to survive in cold weather, but at the top of a mountain we won't be heard, and perhaps may be able to establish a similar existance to what we had before."

"Jacob wants to go back to La Push-" Edward said.

"I can speak for myself,"

"I advise against that, at least on your own." Carlisle said.

"We can handle our own."

"Speak for yourself," Quil said. "I haven't shifted yet."

"Then you'll ride my back, no homo."

"What will you do when you're chased by a horde?How will you fight without using your snout? How, as a wolf, would you be protected from contagion? " Jasper challenged. Jacob was silent.

"Allow us to come with you," Carlisle told him.

"It's isn't on the way," Rosalie resisted.

"You don't have to come, Esme and I will go." He looked over his shoulder and Esme nodded at him.

"We're not splitting up again." Rosalie muttered.

"Anyone else want to stay behind?"

"I'm going too." I said, before anyone spoke for me.

"Me too."

"Me three." Nikki and Eric answered.

"You'll just slow us down," Rosalie said.

"It'll be a waste of gas otherwise." I responded. "You still have your car right?" I asked Carlisle.

"No, I lost it when the hospital was overrun. This will be the first thing we do, buckle up. We'll be separating into two groups: Nikki, Eric, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme are one; the rest are with me." He said, handing out the three bags, each with a tent attached.

"Each bag has a day's worth of supplies in case we get seperated; we'll find each other again before the end of that day. But if something happens and the groups are divided further, make sure you stick to a vampire." We couldn't help but give an awkward chuckle.

"Let's go."

"Hop on," Edward murmured. Nikki had muttered 'Guess you guys don't need human food and stuff.' 'Just a warning, we run fast." Emmett said to her.

I grunted as I jumped; the bag was like a weight wanting to keep me on the ground. We took off, not running in any formation but everyone stuck close to their group (Nikki on Rosalie and Eric on Emmett) back out into the night. I turned when I heard metal clanging. The lights turned off as the rolling gates, the sort that guard stores against robbers, came down the sides of the house.

"Do the Denalis know we're coming?" I grunted. The backpack beat my back, chopping my words.

"Carlisle called them before to warn them. There's many airports there so the infection may spread faster but in Denali the population is far less than here, 1,867. If they hurry, they may be able to build a wall around the mountain top before it all goes to hell."

Carlisle had said we might be able to establish a similar existance to what we had before the outbreak but I stopped myself from thinking about it. What if we couldn't?

We followed the trail we made with our scent on the to the Cullen's house back into town, treading more carefully when we were a few miles away from it's treeline in case some of the infected wandered into the surrounding forest. It was clear but we stopped behind the trees. Craning my neck, I saw there were more than ten of them walking aimlessly in grass field that surrounded Forks High school, Forks Elementary school and a few homes. In this area there were long stretches of lawn, no fences; a five block radius where we were. If we ran across, we would be out in the open for 5 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, but it would take around 300 steps to get to the streets on the other side. Where there was still no cover. And still, the infected from the hospital could be roaming there.

"What do we do?" Eric asked.

"I say run like hell." Emmett said.

"All of Forks is like this, it's best we don't attract attention." Carlisle said.

"Are you insinuating we run in small groups when their backs are turned?" Rosalie asked.

"I really don't think that'll work." Nikki said.

"Honestly I don't either." I inputted.

"Alice, if we run, do we make it?" Carlisle asked. Seemingly tired, Alice pressed her fingertips into her temples as she looked with her eyes closed.

"...I can't see." She said, choked up as if she were wanting to cry.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't any of your futures." She said shaking her head. "I don't know why, I could just fine when we were at the shelter before...before the Quileutes appeared." Her head turned sharply to them.

"We didn't do anything."

"There's nothing you _can_ do, it's your make up." She grumbled.

"They're not human or vampires, that's why she can't see our futures; mixed with us, they act like blind spots." Edward thought out.

"Alice can see the future, Edward can read minds." I explained to Eric and Nikki.

"...we will just have to make do."

"I'm sorry Carlisle..." Carlisle laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I could distract them."

"No." I said, clutching his jacket. Carlisle had said the same.

"We should split into groups of three. Emmett, Rosalie and Eric go first. See the blue house behind those trees? Wait behind it." A little nervous, Em and Rose got up from their crouch. Emmett grabbed Eric and they ran, pushing their vampire speed to their limit, to the other side, disppearing behind the cluster of trees.

"Now you two with Nikki." Carlisle, Esme and Nikki went next. Then Jacob, Quil and Alice.

"Now us."

"Hold on tight," He breathed to me. I was never afraid of the speeds he ran but I squeezed my eyes shut this time, planning to only open them when we made it. The infec-Zombies had turned towards the path we ran but kept waddlng, seemingly in place.

"Okay." Jasper breathed.

* * *

 **I** admit I was wanting this story to be interactive, as in, when a choice comes up, you choose out of two or three options of where to go next. But if you could have picked where the Cullen's go, what would you have chosen? La Push, Straight to Denali, or try to find supplies in the town?

Thanks **Miller18** for following, and **Amy** for your wonderful comment, keep 'em coming and enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

In a single file we walked around the house, close to it's walls. Emmett nodded to it and jasper shook his head and nodded to the house in front of this one. The back door was still locked. The lock was broken quietly and walked in carefully. Usually the front doors were kept open to let air in, Forks was safe, but maybe it let other things in.

"Emmett check the upstairs, the rest of us will look for food and blunt force weapons."

I didn't think there was anyone here, because everything showed evidence of the beginnings of a mundane day, then urgency to get out. We found canned meat beans and vegetables in the cupboards and rotting food in the fridge. With 350 calories in each can, what we packed wasn't enough. 'Everyone's gone, it doesn't matter' I told myself.

There was no one upstairs and no basement, and nothing in the medicine cabinet to be used as first aid. But with a fireplace poker and a bat, we made our way out. On Forks ave, we looked south for anyone or anything coming up from the Thriftway there. There was an outfitters but we decided not to chance it.

"Can we go over there?" Eric asked. He pointed towards the area where Forks Community Hospital was located. "I have to see Angela. Just a quick look."

After seeing the abandoned cars in the Thriftway's lot weren't good to use, we jogged across another large open space to the part of Forks where the Church was. Angela was babysitting while her parents went on a date night. Knowing her, she would have locked herself and her brothers somewhere in the house. But she wasn't there. The inside of her house was a mess, like the Thriftway; there were no cans of food left and her room was overturned. I had been in her room once, she was helping me put the stamps on my college applications. She had a bright future ahead of her that's for sure. Eric sobbed quietly to himself.

Along her walls were photos of us, all of us, together. La Push, Prom, the cafeteria, graduation...her camera was still here, on her dresser. I took a few photos down and put them in my jacket's pocket. I was sure she wouldn't mind. Not knowing for sure if she was alive or dead seemed worse than knowing if she was dead. I shook my head when it concocted an image of her as a zombie. She'd never hurt a fly. I wished that wasn't her fate, or at least, that she was killed before she hurt anymore people. And odd thing to think about.

Angry, Eric insisted we go to the church Mr. Weber preached at, just in case. Even if we didn't find her, we could find survivors he said. But even I knew that it was closed. Of course no one would be there. It was on the way back to the 101 road, so we had no reason not to give a quick check. It was still locked. After Eric called out a few times for someone to respond if there was anyone there, we pulled him away, telling him to shush or _they'll_ hear.

We went back from where we came, avoiding the hospital completely, and headed north to the Newton's Sporting Goods store, the only store like it in 60 miles. Same for the Thriftway. Other than this grocery store, there was two small ones. When we entered, we could barely contain our screams. There lay Mr. and Mrs. Newton, massacred, on the ground, a giant pool of blood under them. My stomach turned. This is what human death smells like.

Eric and I watched with our hands over our mouths and noses as Edward moved their bodies. Stab and bullet wounds were all over their torsos, and bruises in their faces. I had seen them alive and well, happy, just a day before _they_ attacked my house. And now they were dead. Katie was nowhere to be found; hopefully she escaped. This place was picked to the bone; all hunting weapons (bows, arrows, guns, knives) and other necessary supplies for spending a week or more in the forest were gone. But what filled my head was how armed other people could be and what they were willing to do. We covered them with what clothing was left and stood around them for a silent moment before leaving.

With my hand in Edward's (admittedly I held tight with both of my hands) we walked up the avenue, heading towards La Michoacana. It sold imported goods from hispanic countries but we were there because they butchered meat. Thankfully the fridge was still on, and the containers of saved cattle blood were stored and still good. The virus had reportedly come from dogs and cats and only them, there were no cases of cattle being infected. We humans waited outside while they took a chance and drank what they could find.

"Why are we here?" Jacob asked.

"They're feeding." I said "When they come back, you'll see their eyes have turned gold."

"And when it's human?"

"...red. You just saw they have great control." I said defensively. Nikki and Eric couldn't help looking away when they came back out, but Jacob grabbed Edward's arm, stopping him, and looked at him straight into the eyes. Nikki and Eric could see then the change. They went ahead while he, Quil, Nikki, and Eric lagged behind them.

We went to the pharmacy to take things that we could barter or use. Soon, US currency would be worthless. Or at least here. Is the rest of the world faring better? The big things like ExpresX which increased red blood cell count, which would give our bodies more endurance, weren't here but we took all sorts of painkillers, and things that had the same effect. We managed to find some basic first aid things in the back, and a few boxes of pills for anxiety and some that were prescribed to patients that haven't been picked up.

There wasn't any rubbing alcohol left, but we took some bottles of vodka with a high ethyl alcohol percentage which could be used for wounds and as a disinfectant from Ron's food mart as well as some boxed dry food like crackers. Good thing. We came into contact with a hoard from Tilicum park that spilled onto the 101, the road we were taking to get to La Push. I fell being pulled by Edward. There were parents, elderly, teenagers, and smaller children; I couldn't look away from the monster-like children. Connor was among them. Even on the backs of vampires we still couldn't out-run them. So long as they could see us, hear our pounding feet, and smell the blood on us, they would come after us.

* * *

 **Sorry** for not updating in almost a month. I'm too creative for my own good so the constant reminders that I can't make a living out of it made me depressed but **Mommakat** threw me a rope with her nice comments so now I can pull myself out. Your reviews and comments always leave a mark, and they mean a lot to me, comments and suggestions are of course welcome and VERY helpful so thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying Mommakat and thanks for following, as well as **JeaLouS150.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Wait, if we don't kill them we'll lead them to La Push," Jasper said stopping and turning to face the hoard.

"We're not going to fight them right?" Eric asked with a wavering voice.

"We were gon' have to at some point." Nikki said, clutching her firepoker.

"And the little kids." Quil asked. None of us wanted to hurt them, even if they were zombies. Except for Jasper. He ripped a part of his shirt, tied it to the mouth of a vodka bottle and lit it, then threw it at them, engulfing them in flames. They fell to the ground and writhed, moaning-growling pain. _They're hijacked, but they can still feel pain._

"They could never return to normal." Nikki restated.

We found an abandoned minivan and drove it to the nearest gas station and filled it, not wanting to be stranded on the 110 far from La Push. It was mostly empty, there were few cars to drive around, though sometimes we had to move them out of the way.

"Is there anything else we should know about them?" Eric asked.

"Besides that they're fast and strong, no. But there are traditional vampires around. I saw one that was infected." I added. "They're as fast as the Cullens. If they can be infected then so can werewolves. Both the Cullens and the Quileutes agreed to keep their existences secret but who knows how long it will be till others see one. So keep it secret."

"Do you eat people?"

"'Course not." Jacob responded in disgust. They were silent when the Cullens got back in the car.

"My guess is it won't be too long." Carlisle sighed. They then saw they could hear from afar.

We continued on the desolate road in silence. The sun was rising and we've been running since Forks High School was overrun. It seems like long time ago thinking about it now. And it had only been a week. My head banged against the vibrating car as it was driven down La Push Road. I wanted to sleep but I wasn't sure it was okay to.

"What do we do if your dad isn't there?" Eric asked.

"He's there." Jacob answered.

"But what if something happens?"

"He's a tribe elder, even if he's disabled, he has to be kept safe in order to pass down knowledge of our tribe to keep it alive. Just like how the president is probably sitting in a bunker right now."

"Wouldn't you be able to do that?"

"I would if I paid attention." He said with regret. "Besides, it was fine when we left. It's fine."

And it seemed like it was doing better since then. We rolled up to a roadblock and a small group of soldiers with large guns in full combat gear and a massive truck on the side of the road. One of them put his hand up telling us to stop. He came round to the driver's seat and looked in.

"Any injuries?"

"No sir." Carlisle responded.

"Who are these people with you?"

"My family, this woman is a colleague, my son's girlfriend and her friends, two of which are Quileutes." The man nodded.

"Alright, pass on through. You'll be stopped and checked by our medical professionals to make sure you aren't infected and nothing you bring pose a threat to the survivors here."

"Has the army been deployed here?" Jasper asked.

"All I can say is that we're here to relocate survivors to secured cities."

"Secured cities?" Edward asked, but the man pulled his head out of the car and stepped away. That's the end of _that_ conversation. We stood in line behind the roadblock while three soldiers looked through the car and our bags. They gave us a basic check up and had us strip off our layers and patted us down to make sure we weren't wounded, bitten, or carrying guns. We were allowed to keep our bat and firepoker and hunting knives. They asked us if there were any others in Forks to which we answered we didn't think so, if they weren't dead they were undead or had left town already.

After we were all checked, we were directed down La Push Road, the one other road into the reservation, Mora Road, was cut off. Only one way in or out. We passed a few more smaller groups of soldiers and their trucks along the way, the road being 6 miles long. At the oceanside, the military's presence was strong which was both nice but uncomfortable. A soldier told us to go into one of the tents by the beach and Jacob took that chance to ask for his father and was told told he would be escorted to the Tribal Council. We were stopped when we followed but Jacob explained we would be asked for anyway. Seeing nothing wrong with it, we were allowed to go.

The room was filled with members of the tribe I didn't meet, other than the maturer adults, some younger than me or a bit older. Billy came quickly to pull Jacob down into a hug before whacking him in the head.

"Ow!"

"What were you thinking?" He hit Quil.

"Yow!"

"Why didn't you stop him?" They didn't answer.

"Why'd you bring the bloodsuckers?" A girl growled. "Shoulda let them die up there."

"Now Leah, at this time I don't think we can turn away help." Billy looked up at Carlisle who nodded. "But as for these two youngins I haven't met,"

"We exposed ourselves when we were trying to get here, running." Billy nodded.

"I did too." Jacob admitted. "I shifted to save her." Billy's eyes shifted to Quil who shook his head. Billy sighed heavily.

"This is Charles Uley, Old Quil And Sue Clearwater, our only elders, daughter Leah Clearwater, her younger brother Seth; the leader of the pack Sam Uley, his mate Emily Young, and Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote and Embry Call. All have already shifted."

"Except me, I'm more of a mother figure in the pack." Sue said cheerfully.

"Our parents don't know yet." Embry said, explaining the pack's dependance on her.

"I'm Carlisle, this is my wife Esme and our adoptive children: Edward-" Who suddenly buried his nose in my hair for a second. "-Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie Emmett and Bella. My collegue Nikki and school friend Eric."

"You haven't changed a bit." Charles Uley said.

"I'm glad you're still alive and well." Carlisle responded. We stood there for an awkward moment before Billy allowed us in.

"Have there been any infected?" Carlisle asked.

"A few but they were dealt with, as well as any possibly infected by them." Charles answered. "We have few survivors from Forks. Is it as bad as they say?" We nodded.

"Charlie?" Billy asked. I shook my head. "Well, glad something made it."

* * *

 **Thank you DecadenceofmySoul for reading and you're awesome comment!**


	12. Chapter 12 Day 6

Chapter Twelve

Apparently the army had arrived about 32 hours ago and worked fast to organize the rez to their liking. Supposedly there would be a boat arriving at the shore soon to take us to a secured city as they said. The Quileutes though were trying to tell them that this was their home and didn't want to be relocated again. Once in history was enough. They would appreciate some supplies but would make do, live and die here. Same for the wolf pack. We said we would help but weren't sure we would stay.

We explained we were going up to Alaska to save as much of the anima there for food, what we knew so far, that the zombies were fast and hypersensitive like animals, and told them about the infected vampire we saw. They heeded our warning and said they won't ever send one of their own to scout the forest again lest they come across one or get infected.

"There are vampires all over and if a horde of zombies finds you, they could either overwhelm you or lead a few nomadic vampires to you that do feed on humans. These vampires could revert back to a more animalistic state as humans become harder to find and group up in order to catch more humans and survive. Also, the police force in Forks was completely decimated leaving the surrounding area without protection against human gangs, both those that form to survive and those criminal. And both willing to kill. Some of the bodies we found were deaths caused by other people. I respect your decision to stay, but I don't recommend it in the long run. There are few Quileutes left and I believe protecting your tribe's lineage is more important. Especially the shape shifting gene now more than ever."

The Elders, Billy, Charles, Sue, and Old Quil nodded. "We will take it day by day." Old Quil said. "But the treaty remains intact. No exposure here, or feeding." He said, looking at me.

"They don't-" I started but sighed and nodded.

They gave the Cullens blankets to cover themselves when were were out and about. I learned that vampires and wolves stink to each other and it was painful enough that there was no way we could stay under one roof. The sun had risen since we arrived. The Cullens draped their blankets over their heads to keep from glittering. Things seemed to be looking up despite having lost so much and having to leave the rez behind.

* * *

"They still don't believe you feed on animals, not humans." I said aloud. We moved into the tent we were directed to which was on the beach. We sat around the area of the tent designated to us while Alice lay limp in Jasper's arms. Being in a closed room with up to ten 'smelly' wolves aggravated her headache.

"Perhaps with time they will." Carlisle said. I managed to cover my mouth in time for a yawn.

"The three of you should go to sleep," Esme said.

"I don't want to miss anything..." I mumbled.

"You won't." I heard her say before I konked out.

* * *

I woke up after a two hour power nap while the others still slept.

"So this is your first time in La Push since about a century ago."

"It's been a long time since we've seen the beach." Esme said with a smile. I agreed with her that it was nice. The air was saturated with the scent of the ocean, I got a good whiff of it when I took a deep breath.

"It was right down over there that Jacob spilled the beans and I found out about you guys." I said, pointing farther down the beach. The rez was really small, so small we were easily packed into these tents. There was miles and miles of beach on either side till you made it to the Makah nation in the northeast corner of Washington. I wished I and the others, like Lauren and jessica, got along better.

"Walk with me?" Edward said. I tensed.

"Last time you said that you were gone." I mentally kicked myself for not stopping those words from coming out.

"It's just a walk this time."

* * *

I stuck close to him as we walked. He seemed to be enjoying seeing the beach.

"What did you guys do on the beach trip?"

"Uh...nothing, just hiked to the tide pools and sat around a campfire talking to the natives. The fire glowed blue because of the salt water that soaked into the driftwood."

"And you weren't scared?"

"About...no, it just explained everything so not really. Where were you?"

"Brazil."

"Sounds nice." I scoffed.

"It wasn't a vacation." He stopped me. "I did it because of what happened that night. I didn't want my brother or anyone to suddenly lose control, or myself. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"I don't have a problem with that. It's not having a choice that I have a problem with. You had no right to make that decision. You _forced_ them to leave. You could have done whatever you wanted but not make them leave. You have no idea what you've done. They're the only real family I ever had. I love my parents, they did what they could and I don't care that Reneé decided to leave. But that doesn't mean I didn't want a family. And you took that from me." I told him.

"Same with my mortality. It's _my_ decision not yours. I didn't have the choice of being born or not, I don't have much choice in anything at all, but my death should be mine." He gripped my shoulders.

"Are you saying you wanted to die?"

"If I want to be a vampire then I should be." I said looking away. He was quiet for a moment.

"You have no idea what you're saying."

"There you go again."

"You don't. You could accidentally kill innocent people. You'll have to kill animals for the rest of your existence. Could you really live with that?"

"...I would do anything for forever with you." He grabbed my face so he could kiss me but instead hugged me.

"I've killed people."

"I know."

"And you don't care?"

"No. Even if they weren't bad people I still wouldn't care. It's not like you enjoyed it." He rested his head on my shoulder.

"I do want you to be with me forever."

"I know." He huffed a small laugh.

"You're a stubborn idiot you masochist. But I guess that's why I'm here."


	13. Chapter 13 Day 7, 8, 9

Chapter Thirteen

"I do want you to be with me forever."

"I know." He huffed a small laugh.

"You're a stubborn idiot you masochist. But I guess that's why I'm here."

* * *

He caressed my cheek with his lips, the tip of his nose stroked mine. I wanted the past to be done over, to forget the heart-wrenching pain, but at the same time I had him here. I wasn't going to let go, or let him go. I grabbed his face and kissed him hard. I wasn't going to let him leave without a valid reason, valid in my opinion, ever. He hugged me close to him, feeling the curves of my back and sides.

* * *

We were told the National Guard would arrive on the shores in three days. We all rejoiced. The Cullens took advantage of being able to be on the beach, who knows when we'll see it and our home again. They took walks, played soccer amongst themselves or with the children from the rez under the cover of clouds, and went swimming. Though I was too uncordinated for soccer, I was able to swim with them. It was amazing, holding onto Edward's back as he swam at his speed. It was like riding a dolphin. It was so serene, we could even forget what we have seen and lost before having to return to hell.

* * *

 _Three days later..._

"Ew, she's kissing it." I heard a boy say. Edward stopped, growled lowly.

"Don't call him an 'it'." I told Paul.

"Whatever; the soldiers are saying we gotta round up." Without anymore words, he led the way. Edward and I slung our bags onto our shoulders.

"We'll just tell them politely we want to go our own way." Edward told me and took my hand.

The Quileute Reservation wasn't large at all, not in the slightest. It's entire population and the few survivors from Forks, including us, easily fit into the little square the soldiers made. There were archer posts where soldiers with big rifles stood at the ready at all corners and more on the ground, keeping us in this designated area, plus a helicopter flying over head. This isn't right...The Cullens seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Is there anyone missing?" one shouted loudly into a megaphone. No one claimed that there was a loved one or friend missing. I saw one of them talk into a radio and jet plane zoomed into view, having come from the horizon on the sea. I looked to the nearest soldier.

"I thought- _RUN_!" I hear the clattering of cans as it flew overhead and suddenly there was eye watering white smoke all around us. Screams erupted and everyone ran in different directions. Someone grabbed my hand and looking up, I saw it was Edward.

"COVER YOUR FACE!" I did what he said using my free arm and screamed when my feet left the ground. He pulled me to his chest so I was reverse piggyback. The white fog glowed yellow. It was a bright sunny day. Then it was orange with gun fire. Cars blew up. The screams are louder. People fell but they were running just fine. I can't hear. Nothing but gunfire. Then rustling of leaves. It was gone. Nothing but forest. But I can still hear it. Some crying was louder. Was it me? No. Eric and Nikki. Groaning? Who's hurt? There's a soldier in Jasper's arms. What's happening? Whimpering. Wolves. Jacob. Quil. Eric, Nikki, Rosalie, Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Alice, Edward. They were horrified. My teeth clattered, the man screamed unintelligibly.

"Don't stop!" We kept running. Smoke rose a mile behind us. We stopped when I could hear the rushing of water. A river. Jasper laid down the man; he was the one who yelled out to run. Everyone else fell to the floor. Jacob growled loudly at the bleeding man.

"Stop it!" Jasper yelled. "Carlisle." Carlisle went to the man, checked his leg and tied his scarf around it robotically, gave him painkillers that we stole, going through the motions. He asked him to follow his finger but sounded slightly distant. Looking back, Esme cried into Rosalie who only had an arm around her and a blank face. Alice, Nikki, Eric, and Quil cried next to them. Why is there water on my face?

"Just a flesh wound."

"What's happening?" Jasper growled.

"I was only told it was an evacuation-"

"Evacuation my ass!" Emmett screamed.

"Sh!" Jasper hushed. "What were your orders!"

"To round people up I-I didn't know! I wouldn't have done anything if I did!" I look down and see Edward's navy sleeves wrapped around me. He looked over my sould to the ground as if in shock.

"...Ed...ward?"

"I only know what they were going to do after evac." The man continued. "It was containment, of the infected! Then sterilization and then-and then reintegration. There were other missions. Evacs _did_ happen, I don't know-I don't _know_!"

"They're going to kill us!" Eric cried. "We've all seen it, it's in all the movies!"

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!"

Quil whimpered as if he were hurt. Jacob 'talked' to him, trying to calm him the best he could.

"We don't have time." Edward said.

"Edward?" He pressed my head to his chest.

"Let's move. We'll follow the river to Port Angeles." Jasper said, and pulled the man up. "Jacob, I need you to carry them." he said, referring to Eric and Nikki. Billy...

"So I'm not hallucinating. Wolves."

"And we're vampires." Jasper said, pulling it off like band aid.

"Shit."

"Faint and we'll think you're dead and leave you."

We all got up, unlocking our joints, and started up again. Jasper carried the man on his back. He was young, younger than 30. Eric and Nikki were carried by a depressed Jacob. I piggy-backed on Edward as well and the others followed.


	14. Chapter 14 Day 10

Chapter Fourteen

"Hey...he's paler." I said.

"He's not dead yet." Jasper said after a quick look.

"We don't eat humans." Edward said to the still name-less man.

We ran close to the river, a few feet from it hiding in the trees in case the helicopters were searching for people. We could still hear explosions behind us.

I didn't understand. Why would they want to kill us? Was Forks unsalvageable? Were we all infected somehow? We couldn't be...

After a few hours we couldn't hear anything; no bombs or the chopping sound from helicopter blades but we didn't slow down. After a few more hours and going around the small community of Elwha we made it to edge of Port Angeles. Port Angeles was over five times more populated than Forks which increased the chances of running into hordes, but at least it decreased the chances of seeing a zombie-fied Mike or any of the others. I missed them.

We kept to the patches of trees just in case. From there I could see the place was as trashed as Forks was and empty. Or was it? Should we call out a warning? No, considering what our group was made up of it was best to stay away from everyone else. We ran out of patches as we closed in on the marina. We stopped and Jasper slowly laid the man back down but he still groaned in pain.

"Do we take a boat or go around?" Rosalie asked, covering her mouth and nose with her hand.

"I'm not sure." Carlisle said, sounding stressed. He worked fast, changing the gauze he bled through.

"The Canadian army might be protecting it's borders, keeping the infection out." Jasper thought out loud.

"You mean they'll try to kill us?" Eric asked in a high pitched voice.

"I highly doubt their hospitality extends this far."

"I can't see anything from here." Edward said. "We should try and hope we strike luck. It'll take longer if we go around."

"Only one should go; if there's anyone there, they'll see us if we all go."

"Lines are down." Rosalie commented. I caught her putting her phone away. Jacob still whined. Should I be crying too?

"I'll do it." Emmett said. Before anyone else could say anything he took off running.

"It's only ten blocks away." Edward reassured Rosalie who was going to run after him.

"I let him go, I shouldn't have let him go!" Jacob said through his teeth. He was quickly covered with a blanket. Esme kept it tight around him and he didn't push her away.

"There wasn't anything any of us could have done. None of us were expecting that." She said softly. Jacob had his hands on the handles of the wheelchair, set in front of him, ready to push him up a ramp to safety, to a future where hopefully they were reunited with his sisters. Now that and his mother's grave were gone.

I felt...sad. Here was my sun, no longer shinning bright. I've only ever seen him happy and silly. I crawled over and laid a hand on his shoulder. He turned and sobbed into my chest. I sat still as tears slowly filled my eyes. How could I be the big sister when I was an orphan too? I sobbed and rocked him. Quil came and phased back, and cried into Jacob's shoulder. How could I be the big sister of two orphans? My mind began to flash the faces of everyone I knew, who made me one of them when Edward was gone, those of who I just met, talked with before...

They were the only ones who could keep us company when we had to keep the secret. Now they were turned to ashes, blown away by the wind. Absolutely gone.

* * *

Emmett was back before long. There was a Coast Guard Station right in front of the marina in this area and the army had made a base out of it. There could be another camp here, soldiers roaming the place. Port Angeles could be next.

It was said we would go through the islands east of here, onto the mainland and cross the border on foot to stay off of the U.S. Army's radar. It would take about five hours maybe less. With Edward's special ability we could avoid people.

It was as trashed as Forks was. We raided a house here and there to add to our food. Without thinking twice I swallowed a can of corn. I had to make Jacob and Quil eat a few; it was less than what they usually ate, they claimed to not be hungry, but they ate _something_ at least. We would have to constantly replenish our stock. We only took beans or canned meat. The high protein content made up for the space it took in our bags.

We kept heading east in a straight line and any zombies were dealt with swiftly. Jacob took the bat strapped to Nikki's backpack and eagerly took part. There were schools here, and in a highly populated area there were many youth. Jasper took care of them for Jacob. The other Cullen's still had trouble doing it but were able to kill them in one swing. These run-in's inspired us to go faster each time.

It got dark quickly. Half our day gone by the time we arrived here, covering 12 hours travel in 6. To save time, any time, we swam through Sequim Bay and continued on to Discovery Bay which we swam through too, a quick dinner in between. The sun was beginning to set but still there were many strips of land water to get through and, still, the mainland to cross. It would take another 5 hours to get to the mainland. There we could get a car and drive close to the border and sneak through via the forest there. It would be the last hour of urgency. Hopefully.

...

As soon as we made it to Everrett on the mainland, we changed into dry clothes and crammed ourselves into a tinted-window van and started driving north. When we got close to the border, we went back on foot to hide amongst the trees. There was a wire fence with signs that warned it was illegal to cross but we jumped over it into Canada.

* * *

"You should have lt me carry you." Edward said, checking my hands. They were scraped and a little dirty.

"There are some things I should do myself I think." I responded.

Things would have been better if Canada wasn't already infected. What if what they reported to be a new flu strain or rampant cold was really the zombie virus? In a country so big there could be well over a hundred big airports and a few smaller ones. Virus heaven. America had already begun to sterilize, was Canada planning on the same? I didn't want to believe any country did this on purpose.

Driving up, the amount of clear fields increased and continued in, what I guessed to be, British Columbia. All we needed to do was kep going north and make a left turn and bam, we were minutes from Denali. Edward had made the trip in a day so easy-peasy right?

We'd be back in U.S. territory but I was sure we'd figure something out. Just one more day.

* * *

 **So why is the U.S. army killing civilians, some of you asked.** Well, when decomposing, and there's lots of bodies doing that right now, the body fills up with gasses and expands the skin 'til it can't any longer and the body explodes. Here, it would spread the disease. So long as the host is alive so is the virus and so the germs in the gas, which are still fresh and alive, infects everything around it. Plants including trees get viruses too, weird eh? XD and some can move into humans so...it all had to be destroyed to kill everything and make WA zombie-virus free. There's so many trees in Washington! And the Cullens can't stay there until the 'remodelling' is done. So yeah. Feel free to ask anything, I love interacting with you guys!


	15. Chapter 15 Day 11

Chapter Fifteen

I tried not to make a sound when I yawned as we walked diagonally through Arnold, aiming for getting away from the border and into a house where we would sleep for the night. It was still a bit early, only around 8 pm, but we were tired and the soldier had been moved around too much already.

Arnold was a small cluster of houses surrounded by yards. Too open, and this characteric of British Columbia didn't seem to end as far as I could see.

We stopped at a one story house with a surounding porch that was a good distance away from other houses and the nearest highway. It was empty though Edward did mention that not too far from here was there a bigger group. I already knew we'd stay away from them, to avoid drawing attention, like how large covens such as the Cullens drew unwanted attention from the Volturi (the unofficial government or justice system of the vampire population if you will) just to be safe.

The soldier was quickly laid down on the sofa. He was so out of it that his scream of pain came out in a moan. All we had was Tylenol and it only made the pain bearable for him. We'd have to get something stronger; we've already given him the maximum amount in 24 hours. I watched Carlisle and Jasper help him; Esme went to the kitchen to get a large bowl and treated the tap water with chlorine just in case. He had to go through the water like us and his wound could get infected, slowing the healing process.

I dropped my bag onto the floor and rested my sore back against the wall like everyone else did.

"You should all bathe as well," Esme said. "I'll prepare the water." No one responded. Esme did as she said. Edward began brushing my hair with his fingers.

"You must be tired, carrying me for almost 12 hours now." I told him. He shook his head with a ghost of a smile. I leaned in to check his eyes.

"You need to feed soon. Your eyes are darkening."

"Must be all the exercise."

Esme returned and Eric said 'ladies first'. I told Nikki to go before me and checked on Jacob and Quil while Rosalie tried getting in touch with the Denali's again.

"You guys hungry?" They shook their heads.

"Irina!" Rosalie said happily.

The Denali's were building a wall around their house using the trees they took down, with plans to do the same to the mountain itself and using the area to raise cattle. The Denali sister's were from a time where farming was something every family did to survive in what's now the United Kingdom and left when they were adopted by a couple, Eleazer and Carmen, to be far from the Volturi. They had killed their mother, her punishment for creating immortal children who didn't have the mental capacity to restrain themselves and their hunger for blood. Edward had told me they were lucky to have been spared. It was good news, for sure.

When Nikki returned I had my turn and waited until Jacob and Quil had their turns. I would bunk with Nikki in one bedroom and the boys would share the second. The third being reserved for the Cullens.

"Hey Jake." He didn't respond but I knew what he wanted to say.

"We've always been family, and we always will be. All of us now, you'll see." I stopped at the door but there wasn't anything else I could say to better the situation and left it at that.

I went into my bedroom, pulled my pants off (no pajamas) and crawled into the other side of the bed. Lying in it, warming up after hours in the cold, with the fluffy pillow and comforter felt pretty good, but I couldn't go to sleep right away, the urgency of leaving the country was still there. I tore the tips of my nails away. I hadn't clipped them so they grew into claws since.

At one point I rolled over and so did Nikki. She hadn't fallen asleep after all. We looked away from each other and rolled back after a moment. Take me Sleep, I'm tired.

* * *

At breakfast we passed around the can opener as Jasper started the conversation of what we were going to do next and in the foreseeable future, taking charge.

"Why _don't_ we take the Highway?" Eric asked.

"Unless this place was evacuated ahead of time, the highway is going to be blocked by collided cars and it'll be a target for other survivors no doubt. We'll go on foot and through the mountains."

"Wouldn't everyone else have thought of that and be be doing the same thing?" Edward asked.

"Of course a few have."

"Who died and made you-" Eric stopped short.

"Hey! None of us should fight. We all agreed to go to Alaska; it doesn't matter what route we take so long as we don't lose anyone else and fighting isn't going to help us do that, so can we just get on with it?!" Nikki said with a wavering voice.

"We're all struggling to come to terms with what has transpired so far," Carlisle said. I could feel Jasper using his ability. "But we shouldn't let it come between us, instead help each other through it. We're going to make sure we all make it, yes?" Everyone nodded.

"Continue."

"I had to evacuate people myself once when I served in the army when I was human. Everyone in this area have a fair amount of knowledge of surviving in the forest so it is possible that some will have entered but not in this area; it isn't large enough. And we all have heightened hearing so if there are people, we'll hear them before they see us."

"What about that guy?" We all looked over and the soldier had craned his neck to see us from the couch.

"You're leaving me?"

"No, we're just discussing a plan." Carlisle explained.

"No man left behind." Jasper quoted. Esme hurried over with water and painkillers.

"That explains things."

"What's your name son?" Carlisle asked.

"Brent, I'm from Maryland."

"Good to meet you. I sewed you up. The bleeding seems to have stopped, but moving you around could exacerbate the wound. However, we are in a bit of a rush."

"I can handle the pain."

* * *

 **Who should I kill off next? XD**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Brent scarfed down his breakfast, angrily I think.

"Don't rush yourself." Esme said kindly.

"So you're all headed to Alaska huh?" Brent asked.

"You're more than welcome to come with us?" Carlisle said. Edward coughed.

"I'm sorry about your family." Jasper said.

"They aren't dead." Brent responded tensely. "If I hurry, I can make it back to Maine before-" He stopped short and we remained silent.

"Right now you're scared and definitely not in the right frame of mind." Jasper started. "On top of that, you're far from being in good condition. That wound is going to take at least two months to heal." Brent's tense expression melted into one of defeat.

"Your sister can see the future though?"

"Wife. But no, she has to have met them at least once to be able to see their future."

"We should get going; we should cover as much ground as possible during the day." Rosalie said.

"Wouldn't night time be better?" Eric asked.

"Perhaps; other humans may want to move during the day rather than night." Edward answered.

"I think right now we should worry about painkillers. We're low and we didn't have much in the first place." Nikki interjected.

"There should be another town an hour or two from here." Edward said. "We may be able to find a lot more supplies there. Might as well in case we decided to make camp for a few days."

"Carlisle, Edward, Nikki and I will go." Jasper said. "The rest of you...lay low." He and Carlisle kissed their wives, and Edward kissed my head, before leaving with emptied backpacks. The rest of us gave each other a flat smile when they were gone. What do we do now-?

"Were you always thinking of following him wherever he goes." Jacob asked tersely.

"Wherever he and Cullens went, if they'd have me." Esme smiled at me in response.

"Then you're comfortable with being frozen in time, never growing up, moving on, having children, or getting married, _if_ you don't 'accidentally' kill someone?" I stared for a moment unsure how to answer besides in anger.

"You could have all of that if you were with a human." I got out of my seat.

"I don't want to argue with you. But no, no one else can take that place. I know what I'll be giving up, and I know they'll keep me from hurting someone."

"Children." Rosalie said.

"If...I want a child I'll...adopt one." I said. She looked at me in disgust.

"You have no idea what you have." She growled lowly.

"I know what I want and what I refuse to leave without." Esme began stroking her hair and she slowly leaned back from me. I decided to go upstairs for a while, and willed my heart to relax. Rosalie was scary, intimidating all of the time, but I understand why now. Still, I'm not crazy about kids; she shouldn't dislike me so much.

I went up here just to get away from the tension, but there was nothing to do. I ended up tidying up the rooms and collecting what was left in them that was hours. The mountains that I could see from the boy's room caught my eye before I left the room. It wasn't very far away but probably out of our way. There were some trees on the ground surrounding the mountains but it looked like bushes from this distance. After scanning the area for a few minutes, I started feeling uneasy and pulled the curtains across, and did that for all the rooms and closed the doors too. On the way down the stairs I heard Brent and Eric talking to the remaining Cullens about their lives up until now.

"Are you alright Bella?" Esme asked when I came back.

"uh, yeah." I dived into folding the clothes in my arms and taking notes on what we had in our inventory on some stationary I had found to try to relax my mind.

There weren't any undead out there but still. Most likely there were where Edward and the others had gone but that's why Edward went along right? Wait...then it's possible he has to endure hearing those things moan 'brains...' in their heads. They'll be fine, I'm not worried. Esme started cleaning up too and Alice and Rosalie went to the back of the house to get away from the wolves' stench I guessed.

I was done with my distraction pretty quickly, so the next hour and a half or so was boring. I started sort of pacing when that time passed and they weren't back yet, but not long after they returned.

"It's like a goldmine there!" Nikki exclaimed. "We found a Costco and Starbucks, and I bet there's loads more!" She quickly took out a bottle of painkillers and handed it to Brent who didn't hide his relief.

"Hopefully we run into more places like that but we did get a few bags of seeds and coffee for future use." Edward said.

"To...grow stuff?" I asked.

"Yes." He said with a grin. "I've never grown anything myself either."

"We should start heading out now," Jasper said.

"Here, it's chillier here." Edward said, and passed around thicker jackets they found.

With those on and out backpacks strapped on, we moved out. Brent did try to get the Cullens to let him walk so no one had to carry him, but reluctantly let himself be carried by Emmett. We did however had to have Jacob and Quil remain in their human form. Who know how others would react. It got us thinking we should change our sleeping schedule so we could cover more ground faster.

"How long will it take do you think?" I whispered to Edward.

"Mmm...let's hope we can drive most of the way, or it'll take 10 months walking if we cover 6 miles a day."

"Holy shit." I gasped.

* * *

I was teasing about killing off your favorite characters because I'm evil **X3**

Or was I...? **O.O**

I was stuck on this for a bit so that's why I'm late. Also Alice is alive just quiet because of her headache, she was dealing with it but now I know to mention her a bit more.  
Thank you Kathryn for your nice comment, it's uber helpful- any comment on my writing is! When it comes to my 'product', no criticism is offensive because it's work, I need it to improve! And Kathryn, you've quickly become one of my favorite reviewers :D


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Mmm...let's hope we can drive most of the way, or it'll take 10 months walking if we cover 6 miles a day."

"Holy shit." I gasped.

* * *

We brisk walked across the green plain to highway 99. Eight lines of cars sat on the road, interrupted here and there by little pile-ups or a charred car. The last four were on the lane for cars coming down from the north but I supposed everyone wanted to get out and overlooked the law. We climbed over hoods, jumped from roof to roof, looking around to see if there were any heads popping out of anywhere to see us.

We ran into the forest, heading for the river a mile or two from here, where we could catch fish. Seasoning didn't matter. _Meat!_ I wasn't sure if it was just in my head, but I felt a little off physically. I was thinking it was the lack of meat, but maybe my body was adjusting to the 'apocalypse diet'.

The plan was to have lunch here and jump across the river atop a vampire's or werewolf's back. When I saw it, it looked too wide to me. Turning to Edward, I saw he had the same pensive look on his face.

"We'll have to go around. It'll take longer but..." I nodded. We'll do it.

Using fishing lines and a few hooks we found at the last house, Jacob, Quil, Eric and Emmett fished for Sturgeon, using branches as rods. While they did that, Carlisle looked after Brent, Edward and Jasper studied maps to find the fastest and safest way to Denali, and the rest of us made a fire, collected and washed sticks to grill the fish with.

"How're you holding up?" I asked Alice as we skewered the fish.

"I'm nub." She said with a flat smile. It must be merely bearable but at least she hadn't gone half-crazy or seriously sick.

"I'm thinking I might be able to work around it now."

"Well...maybe only for emergencies." I responded. "I know Jasper is thinking about you when he's working hard."

"I haven't seen the major in years!" She laughed her tinkling laugh as she would normally. "But I do wish I could read his mind..."

* * *

I helped cook the fish, flipped them from time to time, while I fed the already cooked ones to the wolves. It was like feeding seals. One fish was one mere bite to them and it was down the hatch the next second. I couldn't help but laugh. In that moment, it felt so great having a group of people in the know of the supernatural world.

Emmett suddenly stood up and stomped to me side of our set up, Jasper and Edward beside him.

"Someone's here." Emmett said.

"Ten." Edward added. I heard twigs breaking not far from us but too deep for me to see who it was though I was sure the others could. Edward and Emmett looked through trees at our sides, Jasper seeming to be staring directly at them.

"Aboriginals." Jacob said.

"Do you know them?" Carlisle asked. Jacob shook his head.

"Edward?" Jasper prompted.

"They're definitely not friendly. Everyone get ready." Edward said. We all scrambled to get our things together, our catch now burning. They burst out of the tree line, surrounding us, pointing their rods with pointed ends, torches and hunting rifles at us. The Cullens stepped back and the rest of us put up our hands. Some where caucasian or other shades of brown, but the natives honestly looked no different from Jacob and Quil. Looking back, they stood still in their wolf form, prepared to fight off the hostiles; exposure being the least of our problems.

"What are _you_?" The leader asked, voice wavering slightly in fear. His gaze, like the others', flashed from the wolves to the pale faces standing in front. Those with torches waved them at the beautiful people, and those with guns cocked them. We raised our hands higher but I didn't think they cared. I could tell they were determined. Maybe even insane from it. Edward's eyes flickered to me. If any of us moved, we would riddled with holes and set on fire still.

" _Don't_ try anything!" The man yelled. " _Your_ magic caused this plague!" He yelled at the wolves.

"Uh...what's he talking about?!" Eric cried. The hostiles weren't stable; they were constantly shifting. _If their trigger finger twitches the wrong way_...

Jacob huffed. "They're Makah, north of La Push. They never liked the Quileutes for their werewolf gene and made a treaty with them that said the Quileutes could never set foot in their territory." The leader gasped.

"It reads minds!" My body's sporadic breathing was making me light headed. The bullets in their guns rattled loudly in the silence.

"Wait, please!" Carlisle begged. "If we're trespassing-we mean no harm!"

"They really believe we're from hell..." Quil said, as if there was no hope.

"You're coming with us." The leader growled. "Let's go!" The people he brought closed in on us, making a circle, and tightening around us. Everyone side-stepped to the nearest vampire. Edward and I found each others hands.

"Now move. _Slowly_..." My head snapped to my side when the rattling was right at my ear. It was one of the Makah. He stared into my eyes intensely; I almost felt like I did do something wrong. He was prepared to kill me. Before I could utter a word, my arm was pulled and I fell into step with the others.

I bit my lip to keep from crying, but it wasn't helping. Looking up, Edward's lips moved quickly, no sound coming out. The Cullens would find a way out.

"Act like you're _our_ prisoners." Edward murmured.

"Shut up!" One of them yelled.

* * *

 **Thank you Jealous150, Isabella5233, thelonelywolf, Sunflowers520, csp4, vampiregurl1345, KrysWalt, chedoo28,** and **lilmissbecki** for following me, the story, and for favoriting it. It's a huge compliment; it's great to see this stories if gradually attracting readers. Have fun!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Act like you're _our_ prisoners." Edward murmured.

"Shut up!" One of them yelled.

* * *

I wasn't sure what they were thinking or how to act like a prisoner. Plus I'm a terrible liar. I craned my neck to look behind me. Jacob and Quil were still in their werewolf forms, too stressed out to be able to revert back. I noticed it was activated by fear. Jacob shifted to saved Nikki, and Quil during the sterilization of La Push. I wonder if they hit Forks too.

We were led back to where we came, to their own little settlement a safe distance from the highway but not too far. It was impressive compared to our group's current status. They had tents, a pile of supplies (that most likely included a nice stash of food) and a fire.

"L-let's just kill them now!" One cried; he was one of those who held a 'stake' in a tight grip. The Cullens hissed.

"Please help us!" Nikki begged. There were already tears in her eyes and the sincerity threw me off for a second.

"Please-I don't want to be dog food!" Eric cried.

"Please, please, please!" I added. They started looking at each other and we cried louder.

"Shut up! The seven of you, move." The leader pointed at the Cullens with his gun and jerked it to the right to direct them where. His friends led them to the left of the camp.

"You four, over there." The others said thank-you's as we side-stepped to the right. Jacob and Quil were whimpering like puppies and I didn't want to leave them.

"We'll find out your secrets beasts! And we'll end your abominable existence!" The leader shouted. Metal chains clattered loudly.

"Yeah!" The others shouted.

"Hurry up." Said one of those that led us away.

We stopped at a cage made of planks of wood where they tied our wrists behind our backs with boat rope before pushing us into it. We groaned in pain, the planks on the bottom digging into our flesh. At least they were gentler with Brent. Hopefully the Cullens got the same; I don't think anyone witnessed their strength. Hopefully they can break through metal! I couldn't even think about losing them. I couldn't, it was my job to keep them safe!

As soon as the door was locked, they stepped away but positioned themselves around us, already standing guard.

"They have a plan right?" Eric whispered. "They'll save them in time?"

"Of course. But we should be ready to run. It'll give them one less thing to worry about. We just run north and swerve a few steps to the right to get back and get our stuff. Even if don't get to it, we can handle one night on our own. Besides, they'll find us before morning."

"So the world is _more_ complicated." Nikki said.

"You don't know the half of it."

* * *

For a while we heard unintelligible shouting, sometimes I knew what they were saying which meant they were poking the wolves. Jacob and Quil barked in response. They were demanding answers, how many were there, what would kill them, etcetera. As if to give them some time to ponder, they turned to us, asking from where did the vampires take us, how long were we captive, what did they do to us. It was easy to base it off truth. We came from Forks, all of us, and the vampires came from out of town. We asked them the same questions he was asking us and they answered with smirks on their faces, a form of playing with their food. They caught us when we were running from the massive wild fire and gunning. We acted like we had no idea what it was about.

"If you're Makah then...you were close." The leader clenched his jaw then asked us about the wolves.

"They were..." I shouldn't have said anything, I didn't come up with anything to say. He stared at me intensely for the answer. I had to know it. _God, I'm so hungry..._

"They were, um, attacking us. For food."

"They're mortal enemies. They were about to fight." Eric added.

"They would have eaten us too." Nikki sighed.

"Please Sir, we haven't had anything to eat. Couldn't we please have a little? We really don't have anything to do with them. We'll be on our way as soon as you let us go?" I begged.

He pushed himself off the ground and discussed with his colleagues if we could be trusted, let out. Were we telling the truth? It seemed like it. We did seem a little friendly with the 'monsters' though. But the boy's question back then, it's possible he really didn't know what was going on; that none of us did. We were all trapped; we weren't defending them and we were sticking to our story. We also didn't have their strange eyes or looked to be part of the Quileute tribe.

 _Please, please please_...I chanted in my head. If we were let out, that could be our only chance. At last they agreed to free us temporarily to eat what they were comfortable sparing to us but they weren't done with us yet. We thanked them profusely and followed them to the fire in the center of their settlement, helping Brent limp there.

I immediately looked for any guns nearby. None seemed to have one and the rifles were piled next to the supply pile a couple feet from the center. Jacob and Quil were stuck to trees with a lock and chains. Jacob's big eyes followed mine as we were pushed to one of the logs around the fire.

As thick soup from the pot beside the fire was ladled into unmatching, well-used tupperware, I told the others not to eat it just in case. I couldn't tell if they were tampering with the food with their backs obscuring my view. We kept our calm as new people served it to us while looking at us as if we were infected by the wolves or vampires.

We stirred the soup as if preparing to eat it as the leader started shouting out the story of when the Makah encountered the Quileute spirit warriors long ago, and how they were right in keeping them away, and that they'll set things 'right' today. The others banged the ends of their rods into the ground and shouted their support in response. Jacob growled and Quil howled. I don't remember much of the salem witch trials from class, but this seemed too similar.

"C'mon Edward," I breathed through still lips. "We'll run back to the river, just save them in time." The leader lit his with the fire and turned back to them. I threw my bowl like a frisbee at him. They reacted and I grabbed a log and threw it at the leader, the others already running towards us. A blur rushed to all of them at once and I saw saw fists fly.

"Run!" I screamed. We split up, running around and into the forest. I heard loud crunching and pounding behind me like the beat of a horse's gallop but faster. Jacob and Quil burst through the shrubs and I flinched as Jacob jumped to my side with a bark. I grabbed a fist full of his flesh at his neck and pulled myself onto his back.

"Where are the others?" I shouted. Jacob barked. _... I don't speak werewolf._ I looked behind me. _They'll be fine though..._

* * *

After a while, Jacob and Quil had to slow down. They might have been faster than vampires, but they didn't have the same endurance.

"You guys okay?" Jacob huffed, Quil gave a softer one. I patted their shoulders. "None of us were expecting to deal with that. We'll just... be wary of other natives and figure out a way to help you guys keep from shifting."

Close to the river, I could everyone was there through the trees. We came out of the rights side of our camp. Edward looked at me and nodded at Jacob. I quickly noticed his hand and jumped off. When I got closer, I smelled the scent of sweet incense.

"Edward!"

"It's nothing."

"What do you mean it's nothing, you got burned!" His hand was slightly melted, the waves a golden brown color.

"Does it hurt?" Carlisle came and started to wrap it in gauze. But I noticed his eyes were pitch black again. Carlisle's were still a dark gold.

"Not anymore. It will heal." He said, clenching his jaw.

"You need to be _extremely_ careful Edward. Until it heals itself or it will snap off." Carlisle said.

"Why isn't it healing now?" I asked.

"Uh...the healing process is slower with animal blood. On top of that, we would need lots of it. It would be faster if he had human blood." Carlisle explained.

"I-"

"No."

"It's my decision."

"It's mine as well. I almost killed you last time."

"But you didn't."

"I'm not taking the risk."

"But I am. It's only a little and Carlisle's here." Edward closed his eyes and huffed.

"Later. We have to keep moving."

* * *

 **Thank you AtroposMorta, Annette8850, VicciTheBestVampire (awesome different spelling by the way), supernatural161 and Zicorix for following and favoriting, we're now SO close to 30!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"But I am. It's only a little and Carlisle's here." Edward closed his eyes and huffed.

"Later. We have to keep moving."

* * *

We had quickly made the decision to walk up-stream betting we would find a boat because there were many towns in the south and on the other side of the river, we figured chances were pretty good. Plan B was to get to the nearest road and continue towards Yukon Territory. I bet I hoped, like the others, that we did find one. It will be a time consuming round about otherwise, plus we'd rather get far from the 'crazies'. If the survivor tribe didn't act that way towards us, we would have had them come along. But it wasn't the case; it was so easy to leave them behind. Still, I hoped they would do fine and wouldn't hurt others. We weren't sure, however, if we were right about sticking to the woods. Many people in the area had, at least, basic camping knowledge.

We rushed and found one at Fraser valley not far from our camp. But it was small; only humans could fit. We walked across the narrow bridge, wide enough for one person, to the dock side. The Cullens held it down for us and Jacob took the steering wheel. While Jacob drove us across to the town on the other side, the Cullens followed in the water, pushing our boat as they swam.

"Ack-rgh!" Brent groaned. He had been without painkillers for almost ten hours.

"Sorry..." I squealed, as I helped Nikki re-dress his wound. After that, we gave him the last of our water and more painkillers. I made a mental note to be on the look out for gallon jugs. I took a pill myself; my back ached from the weight. Nikki and Eric did too; I guessed I wasn't the only one.

"Are you two okay?" I asked Jake and Quil.

"Yeah, that was...close."

"A bit." I admitted.

"Thanks. For...saving us." He told the Cullens.

"I'm sure you would do the same." Edward responded. Well, they're getting along better I think. I stifled a yawn. The sun would rise in a few hours. Another long day. I hoped it wouldn't drive me insane. I have to stop trying to keep track of the days-wait, the Cullens may be having more trouble with that. Esme mentioned that if she left something for 'later' it would end up being much, much later; not in the same day even.

Unfortunately we couldn't rest yet. We realized this was another open space area when we docked. The nearest house was about 2 miles away.

"Let's find a place so Brent can rest." Carlisle said and we climbed out to get to that house. It was empty according to Edward.

We broke into the quaint, yellow, one-story house's back door and moved in. We quickly got Brent settled in, and then the others went to bed.

"Do you...need help?" I asked Edward. He shed his jacket.

"No. Not really."

"Well, I'll help hang these out to dry."

"Are you sure you don't want to watch me strip?" He said, shirt half-way off. I flushed red and tried to move my gaze to my feet but it got stuck on his flat stomach.

"Grow up." I muttered, and snatched his shirt away. He chuckled. Esme followed the others to the other room to collect their pants, leaving the both of us alone.

"Take off your pants." I said, turning my back to him.

"No peeking." He joked. I didn't have too. I've seen Jacob and Quil naked three times already. I shuddered. Still-

"Alright, I'm decent." I jumped, hopefully he didn't notice I tried to peek, and turned around again. He was dressed pants and a v-neck that exposed his collarbone. Which reminded me:

"You have to feed. Right away, I mean, your eyes are completely black now." He grab my wrist and pushed it out of his personal space.

"I'm fine. You can go to bed."

"You're trying to delay the inevitable."

"Let's go some place else." He said softly. Grabbed my hand and took us outside. He explained why as soon as we were a few yards away.

"I wanted to be considerate. They're starving too. It wouldn't be fair to my family if I got to eat."

"Well, they know you need it. They wouldn't punish you for it. It's just this once, and then you'll be careful-"

"Bella..."

"...what?" He didn't answer but he kept walking towards the trees near where we docked.

"Edward? Did that time affect you?" I sighed. I thought he understood me then. I knew he had trouble willing himself to stop, but to me the point was that he did; he was stronger than what he gave himself credit for. I would have to show him then. I grabbed his face and pulled him to me, more like myself to him since he was stronger.

He immediately kissed back, soft as usual, but then his enthusiasm increased. He wrapped an arm around my back and the other around my thigh, picked me up. Wind rushed around me, blowing locks of my hair around. It dissipated when my back was pressed against a tree. I clawed at my jacket, looking for the zipper with one hand, not wanting to let go of him. He found it, swiftly pulled it down and moved my head to the side. I clenched my jaw. I remembered how badly it hurt. I gripped his arms tightly, breathing eratic. He drew a long breath in through his nose, trailing it down my neck-

"AAAARGH-GEarghhh!" I screamed. He quickly covered my mouth and drank. The pain from the bite melted away into the resulting light-headedness. Six...seven...eight, I counted. I could hear him swallowing mouthfuls. Ten. I wriggiled in his grip, stars beginning to dance in my eyesight.

"Stop." I said, and patted his back hard. His lips were looser on my neck for a moment, then jumped back.

"Edward." I said louder. He let me go and braced himself against the tree, hands on either side of my face, head down. He whipped his head back, his face facing the night sky, eyelids closed and a happy smile on his face.

"...edward?" I touched the side of my neck with my hand. There wasn't any blood on it so he must have sealed it.

"I'm okay." He said. He looked down, with that smile still on his face, eyes dark red.

"I was hoping it would be easier. After I left, I was thinking of coming back not 24 hours later you know. Coming back, I've decided I'd rather work harder to keep you safe than stay away from you."

"Didn't you learn that first time?" I joked, beginning to fall forward. He picked me up so fast I didn't even notice.

"True."

He carried me back to the house in his arms, my head on his shoulder. Tired from today's events and being Edward's cure, my eyes drooped until they closed. It was quiet when we walked through the living room but I was sure the Cullens were there. He took me to the one of two bedrooms I would share with Nikki and tucked me into be.

"Wait...stay with me. We haven't slept together in forever..."

"We never slept together." He laughed softly. I supposed not technically. Vampires didn't sleep. But I was thinking of something else. Hopefully he couldn't feel the heat from my cheeks.

* * *

 **Someone asked for a B &E moment. And I delivered? **It was going to be scarier but I figured Edward has already reached that turning point. Here's an eensy outtake:He pushed away, crashing into the tree behind him and snapping it in half. He stayed on the ground, legs folded under him, gripping fistfuls of earth.

But I did stay true to my original idea by keeping her scream in which I'm happy about. BTW I'm sure I used 'affected' correctly, I think? Anyway, thanks **RepublicChe** and **mum2shane** for following. Welcome to club. And thanks everyone for reviewing, it makes my day having a nice handful to respond to with each chapter. I love hearing your thoughts. See you next week! X3


	20. Chapter 20 Day 12

Chapter Twenty

When I woke up the next morning Edward was still there, watching me from the seat in the corner, like he would in my old room. His hand was no longer bandaged, perfect. Just like him. He smiled and said:

"Nikki didn't see me. I left for the few minutes she woke and went downstairs then came back. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable." My thoughts exactly.

"I'll forgive that." I said with a smile. My eyes wandered to the window. It looked to be close to noon. "Oh no, are we behind schedule now?"

"Don't worry about it, you needed the rest. We'll leave as soon as you're dressed." I got out of bed and pulled on my boots he must have taken off for me.

Downstairs everyone waited. Jacob's eyes followed me as I took out a can of beans for me to eat, and took the can of peaches in syrup from Edward. After a few days of the bean diet I was starting to suffer the effects. I hope I adapt to it soon, I thought as I pulled my hair back.

"You fed on her." Jacob said. I turned and immediately reached up to touch my exposed neck; Jacob glanced at Edward's healed hand.

"We can't have another disabled person. No offence." I said. Brent looked on silently.

"Your hand could have healed." Jacob said to Edward.

"It's my body Jacob."

"You-"

"Offered. I saved the hand that saved you. Now let's go." He clenched his jaw and tensed up but didn't say anything.

"Let's move out." Jasper said. We crossed the open space diagonally to the nearest road to cut time, to hopefully find a car and get to Denali faster. Thankfully Jacob didn't say anything more, but I wondered if he was struggling to accept the world he was now a part of, especially being a werewolf himself. At least we have Quil; at least he wasn't alone.

"Think they'd come after us?" Eric asked.

"Mm?" I asked around a mouthful.

"No, they wouldn't go out of their way to do that; but other survivors from the attack must know about us too." Jasper said. "We should avoid all humans, at least until we're far from here."

"Sounds about right." Carlisle said. He wasn't happy about killing James then, he was less happy about the idea of having to kill humans if it came down to it. But there was no question; if they wielded torches, it would have to be done. The Cullens were as vulnerable as we were when you think about it. I'm not sure if a human kill is worse or harder to deal with than a vampire kill. I didn't care for James, I still don't. I just know a Cullen death is worse; I would choose that the human threat die. Knowing that added to the stress. Ugh, we already have zombies to deal with. More death is unnecessary.

We didn't find a new ride at first; the gas tanks were either empty or close to it. Emmett and Jasper tore a few gas tanks out and syphoned gas from the other cars into them using a long tube they got from the last house. Later we found a truck with half a tank a few meters down Lougheed Highway, filled it and piled in. Though a truck would leave at least four of us exposed in the trunk bed, it would be great for storing more supplies and Brent, who had months until his wound was healed enough. Edward, Jasper, Esme, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie sat in front, away from the sunlight, Carlisle sat in the bed under a blanket.

They drove slowly so as not to burn too much gas too fast, and weaved around the cars strewn all over the road. I watched the blur of the trees as we past them, and the light breeze blew through my hair. Hopefully it blew my scent away from the Cullens.

"Are you going to turn into one of them?" Jacob asked. The others were silent but I felt like they were all listening.

"No. I would be screaming if I were."

"You say that like it happened before."

"...It did. I didn't fall down the stairs back then. Nomadic vampires were in town and they decided to play a game."

"I thought that bloo-I mean, Edward did it..."

"Of course not. He sucked the venom out. Pucker your lips and your own venom won't go into the person." There was a thud and I turned to see Emmett move his head forward again.

"Let's just not say the b-word." I whispered. "And none of them will lose control; they've been living amongst us for decades."

"If they won't lose control, why can't we say the b-word?"

"That's enough!" I screamed. "You're not helping. We're _all_ hungry, so shut up! I know we've been through a lot of shit, and I know you lost a lot and even a little of yourself, but that's no excuse! We _all_ lost something, but we still have each other. Quil's still here, I'm still here. Consider yourself lucky; you can live off of human food but the Cullens can't, so stop being an asshole!

I was in La Push too, I'm still freaking out about what happened back there, and I saw more in Forks; I know you can't accept being a werewolf yet, but we have to remain clear-headed and calm as best as we can or we'll be useless, understand?" I urged, gripping his shoulders. I scurried back to my seat when my tears started to flow.

"I lost family too, and it hurts, but I still have everyone else and I'm more focused on keeping what I have. So can you please get along already? There's nothing in the way but you Jacob." I squeaked out.

My mind replayed people's deaths that I saw, and I rubbed my face as if that would help. I knew I didn't express what I felt before, but I didn't want to look back. The Cullens and especially Edward were good 'distractions', but we were still breaking into people's abandoned homes, food still out, flies all around, children's toys all over, evidence of life everywhere but no one there, and moving, always moving, and reminders that everything is different now everywhere you looked.

"I'm sorry...it's just...it's all so unnatural." Jacob choked out.

"...I don't know." I already knew people did bad things, that the vampire race was split as well; I guess I thought nothing was more unnatural than people hurting people. Not even the existence or vampires or werewolves. Or maybe that didn't matter to me either. Bad people are bad, good people are good; we just fight.

"I don't think you're unnatural, far from it."

* * *

 ***Looks at how late I am* SHIET! Tell me if there's anything you'd like to see happen, like the involvement of Victoria. I want to add her, but I feel like I'd be cheating you relying so much on what happened in the books, almost copying it.**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Carlisle gripped Jacob's shoulder as Nikki did mine. "I'm sorry I can't help you very much, but I can offer you support." I heard Carlisle say.

"You're really strong." Nikki said to me.

"Really?"

"Definitely." She affirmed with a smile. My eyes drifted from her Eric behind her who sat hugging his knees with his head down. Nikki followed.

"He's in love with one of our best friends, Angela. Her name suited her perfectly." He and Brent were the only ones who didn't have friends in our group. Nikki had Carlisle, and I had stopped being a good friend months ago. Actually, I was never a friend; I just sat with them, and they had invited me.

"She's definitely gone."

"Oh...working as a nurse I've seen many people die, but I was desensitized earlier on when I lost my mom to cancer. I was taking care of her." She explained. "But you two? You don't have that."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be. We all did our best. Since then I just focused on helping people, doing my best." She said with a smile. It wasn't curved, but straight; like she had accepted she had no control over what happened to those she helped.

"I know, and I know those people knew too." Her smile curved a bit then. I looked over her shoulder again and Eric was still staring at the truck bed.

"I know you're thinking 'it isn't fair' Eric." Nikki said.

"It's not." He responded. "Everything was going great before. Angela and I got accepted to the same college." I felt like shit then. I hadn't known, but would have if I paid attention.

"I just don't feel like she's really gone."

"She isn't." I said. "No one will ever forget her; I never will and niether will you. I'm sure she thought of you."

"Yeah."

"I'm probably a stranger now but...don't you be, okay?" He shook his head.

"I always stood up for you. I know you were dealing with your own stuff, so did Angie."

"I know. I owe you."

"Friends never owe each other anything." I half smiled.

"Thanks. We can have a funeral for her, whenever you're ready." I added after a beat.

"We can do it for everyone." Nikki chimed, gripping my hand with hers and Eric's arm.

"Angie will always be in our memories, but we can say a proper goodbye to the physical her."

"...yeah, that sounds nice." He agreed.

* * *

We stopped at the next town, a really tiny one called Deroche, so the Cullens could find another butcher shop. There had to be one nearby considering the open space. It must be brimming with blood sources. Edward stayed with us to raid the houses in town to stock up while the others scoured the town. We had barely covered a 20 meter radius around our truck when they came back.

"Fucking nothing!" Emmet growled and kicked a mail box out of the ground. Rosalie tried to comfort him but I could tell she was suffering too. She was 'angry' from thirst, not merely annoyed as she usually was.

"We did find a mini mart and general store a mile from here." Esme said.

"I saw Emmett killing a bear before it woke up. We might find a bear's den if we head to the forest right now." Alice said.

"You're not suggesting we split up now?" Quil said.

"There's isn't a choice." Jasper said. "Keep going up the road and cross the river; there should be another town next to Abbotsford. Search more there; who know's how many we'll find." He told Edward.

"We can modify a small refigeration unit to keep the blood you collect, like a blood bank." Nikki said.

"We'll do that later." Carlisle said. "We'll be gone for 12 hours maximum. Be safe." They ran off again, unable to wait.

"...won't we need electricity for the...mini fridge?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. We'd only need a generator to do that, and fuel." Nikki said.

"I once saw a video about two african girls modifying one to run on urine. But I don't remember anything else." Looking at each other we knew none of us humans knew about generators, so we looked at Edward.

"I...honestly never looked into it." He looked at Eric.

"Why are you looking at me? Is it because I'm chinese?" Edward grinned and tried to recover, unsuccessfully.

"Goodness, no. I was merely wondering."

"Well I don't know anything about it."

"I know car engines and a generator's main part is one right?" Nikki gave a combination of a shrug and nod. "Maybe if I fiddled with it we could end up with something." Edward said.

* * *

We got back on Lougheed Highway and drove to the little stores Esme mentioned that were right beside it. The general store was also a deli and a few meters up the road was the mini mart attached to a gas station.

The smell of rotting lunch meat hit us in the face as soon as we opened the door. It must have been rotting in the refrigeration unit for about a week. It's been...a little over a week since we left Forks, when stores were still running.

"Hey! They're still running!" Eric cried, and pressed his hands against the glass. Edward went behind the counter and I looked around with Nikki who went into the snack aisle. I ended up in the small instant coffee section and grabbed a few jars for possible night watches.

"It's me Tanya." I heard Edward say. I immediately felt ridiculous for reacting that way.

"We're still pretty far. Is everything alright?" I heard a bag of chips open and some munching. I went back to the front to double bag my find, and couldn't help but glance at Edward as I did so.

"I am too. And you?"

"Good, keep yourselves safe. Rosalie didn't have service on her cell phone, land line phones seem to still work but I don't know for how long. I plan we'll get to Denali before they go down."

"We have an injured man. We can't leave him; we'll get there." He promised. "Did you hear of any news? From other parts of Canada, or the UK?"

"No, we'd like to avoid military. I may never tell you why. We have humans with us, so you know."

"Yes, it will be lonely to be the only vegetarian family alive." He said almost coldly. "We'll get there as soon as we can. You too."

"Coffee," I said, patting the bag when he turned around.

"This place is such a ways away, all of the junk food is still intact. Got some crackers too; they'll last about a year. We have to stock up on these, and dry beans." Nikki said, returning from the back with her arms full. I held out a bag for her to dump them in and she ran back.

"Let's finish up and head out." Edward said.

With bag fulls of instant coffee, bags of rice, beans, crackers, bottled water, sports drinks and chips, we piled into the car to hit the mini mart. There was also a pizzeria attached to it where we found more drinks. I was ecstatic at first but remembered we still needed to ration it just in case. Afterwards we continued up the road and drove past Harrison Mills, which wasn't even a neigborhood let alone town with it's mere three buildings scattered in it.

"Why did Jasper say to go down here? How does he know there's a town there?" Eric asked.

"He thought 'towns are small and grouped together in this area it seems'. " Edward explained.

"...oh, right Mind reader."

"Makes sense to me; we just passed about...four places and we're barely two hours from the border. I think." I said.

"Not even a half hour. We aren't a half hour away from the border."

"You're kidding." Quil muttered. I wanted to bang my head against the dashboard.

"Driving, I meant. We had to walk half of that distance. We'll get there." He swore.

"...so long as we stay in a car, we'll get there soon?" I asked.

"2 full days max. We'll keep moving when the others return. For now let's try to get some more useful things before nightfall."

* * *

 **That 'all chinese people are smart' joke is in honor of the boy whom I asked help with algebra and he laughed at me and said 'not all chinese people are smart' and went back to gambling with his friends. Sorry, not sorry dude; I genuinely thought you knew _something._**

 **There was ONE hidden 'funny', if you can find it then...something. Hopefully you do find it funny, I'm not a comedian.**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

We drove to Agassiz where we switched onto the 9 to cross the Fraser River. The sun and beams created creepy shadows on the road that was a lot emptier than Highway 1 we traveled on for a short while in Abbostford. You could see the mountains of British Columbia from here, and there was nothing but trees as far as my eyes could see. But when we got coloser to the other end, there seemed to be a break further down the long winding road. Which meant more open space, and I didn't like that.

My eyes drifted back to the mountains. You couldn't see Mount Rainier from Forks, but you would be able to see these mountains even from the center of the up-coming town. It must be colder up there because of the higher altitude. It was March still, I think. It was chilly, colder without a jacket, and it would get colder the farther we went up north. Bad idea to be up there then.

Further down the road we were still flanked by trees, and I realized I was wrong. The trees were just shorter here than in Forks. The monuntains towered next to us about half a mile away. The road was still pretty empty too, as if the people hopped onto the Trans-Canadian Highway 1. We soon reached the sign that let us know we were approching Chiliwack, smaller, hand-made signs stuck into the ground had arrows pointing to the left and said there were strawberries and fireworks.

"There could be animal farms here too." Edward murmured. Maybe we could have chicken for dinner; chicken is the most common farm animal right? But who would pluck it...

We by-passed the two exits on the highway and continued on the main road, and soon I could see houses through the trees. Jasper was right, there was another town next to Abbotsford. The road cruved to the right so we pretty much back tracked. I had to remind myself to be patient.

Later on, there was another sign that said that Highway 1 was up ahead, but we remembered it wasn't driveable; so we turned onto Yale Road and continued to the heart of Chiliwack.

"I smell chickens." Edward said, and breathed in deeply.

"Think they're still alive?" I asked.

"...some barely, if we're lucky. It would mean meat and eggs for you." I nodded and started sucking on my bottom lip. Well. Meat came from somewhere. I started looking away and noticed black dots in the distance. They weren't moving but then I couldn't see well from far away.

We came across a gas station on the side of the road, but its doors were wide open, trash strewn on the ground like they were blown out from inside.

"Should we look through it anyway?" Quil asked. I started picking up the bat and fire poker we had. We need weapons, I thought as I held them.

"We should wait until we have more protection. Let's just try to not waste time." I said.

"She's right, you can't do much with that." Brent said.

"There should be hunting stores in town. I'll follow the scent of gun powder to one if I pick up on something." Edward said. Eric shut the door and we kept going.

"Do any of you know how to fire a gun?" Brent asked. We were silent. I never held a gun before, let alone fire one.

"What about you? Lived for centuries and never picked one up?"

"I never needed a gun for hunting, and I've only lived 97 years."

"Only 97." Brent repeated.

"That's a bit old." Eric said.

"...I'm still just a 17 year old. Forever."

"...what's that like?" Eric asked more seriously. I stared at Edward.

"Not as cool as you would think. There's only so many things that you can occupy yourself with that interest you. That's why we're grateful for video games." He joked. Eric then turned the conversation into a history lesson on the first years of gaming. I lost interest and continued looking out the windows. The amount of trees lessend, and houses with large front and back yards started appearing on the side of the road. Edward started slowing down.

"Why are you-" Eric started.

"Sh." Edward said, and pointed to the left. There was someone standing near the side of the house.

"It isn't human." Edward said, and started driving again but slower as we watched to see if the zombie could hear us from that distance. It continued to drag its feet as we passed, and Edward pressed the gas pedal a little more. The next house came into view right away, sitting just a few feet away, and the zombie there immediately saw us and started running towards us, flailing it's arms, mouth agape, and growling. We braced ourselves as Edward shot us forward. Looking behind me, the one we were trying to go unnoticed by heard the other's growls and was now running after us too. Even though I was in the car, my adrenaline made my heart race, but I started to force myself to breath deeply as they started to disappear into the distance.

"Are you alright Brent?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, I'll live." He groaned. I dug into one of our bags to get him painkillers.

"Let's keep your eyes peeled." Edward said to us. We looked at each other in the rearview mirror for moment before I turned to hand Brent the pills. I might be scared but I would learn how to protect myself.

"They must have been trapped here by the blocked highway." Brent said.

"Safe to say some of the residents are still in town then." I muttered, and gave him a gatorade.

* * *

Later on, Edward stopped us at a store selling used items like chairs and kennels, and Edward quickly went in and brought a kennel.

"There's one nearby." He said as he got in.

"Should we get more liqour before we go?" I asked Nikki.

"Um...a few bottles to last us until we get more actual medical supplies, and pills." She said. Edward wordlessly went and did that.

"Wanna get me drunk eh?" Brent said to her.

"It's for your wounds."

"Exactly." Nikki half grimaced and grinned at that.

"Hunting weapons too." I added.

"And men's clothes." Eric inputted. "Brent's had a naked leg for a while now."

"There should be more shops down the road." Edward said; he got in and continued driving.

Soon enough, a large field replaced the houses and Edward drove over the open space to a barn. It smelled like death. We groaned and covered our mouths and noses. We were a few yards away but it was strong.

"...I'm going to have a look." Edward said. I pulled a Cullen's scarf until it was free and wrapped it around my face and followed. I ran to the barn, not at all like the red barn I had imagined, and found Edward staring at the dead chickens that had their heads cut off. Or bit off.

"Stay back,"

"I know." He looked around at the ground, finally picked up a rock, and threw it inside.

"...no chicken zombies?" He turned around and grabbed hand.

"Guess not. Chickens don't run, they wouldn't be threat if they were." He said as we walked back.

"Stiil though. Animals could be zombies too right?"

"I think so, but I think flesh is as nutricious to them as it would be to you. Not at all. They waste away until they die. Human zombies just take longer."

"That's...good." We'll just get our protein from beans then. "The last thing we need is vengeful cattle." Edward chuckled and pulled me close to breath in my scent. The others groaned when we climbed back in.

"Argh, you brought it with you!"

"Let's get out of here!" I couldn't help but grin then.

* * *

As soon as we came across a thrift shop, we went in and started pulling things off of their hangers. I noticed a smell, none of us had bathed for two days, so I quickly changed into another shirt and left mine on the floor. I looked around as I fixed the new one around me and saw Jacob's head from two rows behind me. He was looking down so he probably didn't see anything. I put my jackets back on, the mustard colored hand-me-down from Charlie and a hunting jacket from the Cullens. For a second I thought I should leave it so I didn't get attached, but decided against leaving it behind.

We left when we had collected a few baskets full of shirts, blankets, and winter apparel; and came out wearing some of it. We put the baskets in the back and covered it with a blanket to protect it. We must have reached our destination because further down the road we found a handful of pharmacies not too far away from the thrift shop. They've all been raided before but we took gloves, and whatever drug we could use according to Nikki.

"Stay alive no matter what Nikki. I'm gonna need years to learn from you." I said half joking.

Afterwards, Edward drove us south to the source of the gun powder scent he picked up on. With no one around, we went inside leaving Brent in the truck; the car blended in well enough and we were going to be quick anyway. The Dart&Tackle shop still had some weapons on their shelves, miraculously; though I suppose everyone already owned something. Everyone pretty much did in Forks.

"Do we just...take everything?" Eric asked.

"Pretty much. Equip yourselves with what feels comfortable. None of the guns are loaded, bullets are on the other side; but make sure they're for that gun specifically. Also, you might want to have a knife on you."

"I thought you said you didn't know anything about guns?" I said, following him into an aisle.

"Newton tried to show off when I went into the store once."

"Oh." He started looking at hunting rifles, which were best at shooting from long distances, and scopes that I found out functioned like manifying glass when I held one in front of my eye. He looked strange with a gun in his hands. He also looked like this was definitely his first time shopping for a rifle too. I perused the aisle and drifted to the next. The archery section.

There were 'longbows', the kind you immediately think of when you think of bows, but there were others that looked totally badass. They were compound bows, made of different parts held together by bolts. Rather than one curve, it was concave in the center. Piles of arrows with different color 'feathers' on the ends sat underneath them. You can run out of bullets but you can reuse these, I thought, rubbing the thin metal rods.

Most compound bows were colorful, but I chose an all-black one and matching arrows with neon green 'feathers' so they were easier to find. I looked around some more and found arm guards, chest guards and gloves for archers, and quivers for the arrows. Should I wear them, or carry them?

I decided to take off my jacket and wear it all under it. I didn't understand what the chest guard was for, but decided not to chance it. Edward later found me adjusting the strap of the quiver, knives and a bundle of black straps in his hand.

"Infinite ammo." I said.

"Good thinking. Same with these," He said, and knelt to attach the knives to my left thigh. I could feel the coldness of his hand through my pants. I blushed when I felt him touch my inner thigh.

"Too tight?"

"N-no, it's good."

"...you're thinner. I couldn't tell before." He squeezed my sides lightly. I supposed the clothes I ended up in didn't hide it.

"Well, I'll eat more when we get to Denali."

"No. Before this you were already thinner than before."

"Let's not talk about 'before this'. It doesn't matter."

"...alright." He relented. I smirked and patted his chest.

"Good."

We returned to the front of the store, jacket and rifles in hand, to look at the hand guns that were on display on the wall. The others were already there; Jacob and Quil were especially interested in them.

"Remember, these are just for zombies and humans that are a threat to you. Wait before you use it." Edward said to us. He helped us choose them and checked all of the items to make sure we were good to go. We had three rifles, a sword, a machete (must have been the guy's idea), a few hunting knives, my bow and arrows, and a handgun for each of us, including the Cullens though they wouldn't need them so some of us could bear double.

"This isn't as cool as I thought it would be." Eric muttered.

With most of the haul packed in a black duffel bag, we left the store and quietly piled into the truck. I rode shotgun, holding my jacket in arms.

* * *

 **So I was thinking, if you guys want to be written into the story, you could give me your first name or A name for future survivors. Don't try to figure out what's coming next XP**

 **This fic may last until it's been 28 days, so far we're on 12.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

 _Previously on Triple-Sided Apocalypse..._

 _The Cullens obtained a kennel to store chickens, but when they arrived at the nearest farm they were all dead, discovering that the smaller the body, the sooner it expires. After that, they make it to a hunting store where everyone was geared up, becoming more and equipped and knowledgeable, and beginning to let go of what was, as shown by Bella's consideration of leaving behind Charlie's mustard jacket._

* * *

Edward drove towards the other side of town, sticking to Lougheed Highway, to save time rather than waiting for the rest of the Cullens in the middle of town.

"Should we look through the town hospital?" I asked. "Hospitals have pharmacies in them where patients pick up their prescriptions after being discharged, and a storage room where a myriad of medications are stored. It should be nearby; most likely others are avoiding it." Most likely because it was overrun too.

"Do you think we can go?" Nikki asked.

"There could be zombies. It could be good for practice but...or we could search a book store for a road atlas first?" Edward countered.

"We could split up?" Eric suggested.

"Not when it's just me." Edward answered.

"We can vote?" I said.

"Who wants to see zombies close up again?" Eric said. Jacob, Edward, Nikki and I raised our hands.

"Who wants to put if off 'til later?" Eric, Quil, Brent and I raised our hands.

"You don't count," Edward said to Brent.

"Do too."

"Bella?"

"I'm indecisive. Either, or; we'll have to do it at some point." I said nervously.

"That's three against four. Hospital it is."

"Can I stay in the car?" Eric and Quil said.

"No." We chorused.

* * *

Edward drove up to the general hospital's entrance, which wasn't that large. I think; it was built in a modern style so it was hard to tell.

"It's huge! Ugh, why are we here again?" Eric moaned.

"To find more meds in case any of us get wounded. Ever. We have to have enough, for as long as it takes for-something to change." Nikki said.

"C'mon Eric, It'll...get easier, but you have to start." I said.

"But they're people. You saw Connor."

"I saw a lot of people, but they're not human anymore. They're flesh eating zombies, Eric. You would stop for them, but they won't stop for you. Don't you want to learn how to defend yourself?"

"It's fine, he can stay in the car. I'm parking it in the lot." Edward said and continued forward. He parked the truck near the corner of the building and we got out. Jacob and Quil pulled out their blade weapons, Nikki the firepoker, and Edward pulled out two guns and started loading them.

"Is that for me?" I asked.

"Sort of. I better learn how to use one before I let you handle one on your own."

"Remember, keep your arms straight and strong, and expect a jump. The recoil always freaks beginners out." Brent advised.

"Thanks."

"And if a bullet gets stuck, just pull the top part back and shake the bullet into the barrel."

"It's us or them." Eric grumbled, and climb out with the bat in his hand. "Never thought Bella Swan would be brave though."

"I'm not, I just don't have choice." I said with a shrug. "Won't bullets make too much noise?"

"There could be many. With these we can keep the horde back." Edward responded. "Let's be quick about it."

We ran up the ramp and Edward instructed that we stay together before pushing the door open. There were papers all over the floor, and the phone on the reception desk was hanging off of the side of the table. The waiting room looked like it suffered a stampede. And there was blood, smeared on the floor, on the walls by hands and other things. I chewed on my lip. The flourescent lights were still on, sort of. Some weren't, others dim, bright or were about to fall from the cieling. We walked around the possible accident area.

"It should be around here, either on the ground floor or the first." Nikki said.

"And the storage room?" Edward asked.

"The basement."

Weapons in hand and Edward in the lead, we made our way through the first pair of double doors. I immediately started looking around, not to see the gore or watch out for zombies; the place was unfamiliar and I didn't want to get lost.

Past those doors was an even larger waiting room, the one we passed was more as a foyer thing. There was the desk where you got the clipboards and forms and next to it was the pharmacy. It was messy, there were prescriptions scattered on the floor and some stuff was taken, but it didn't look like other survivors came here.

"Bella, come with me." Edward said.

"Why?" I asked, my nervousness beginning to get to me.

"I need you close. We're going to see if there's anyone here."

"I thought you said we weren't splitting up?" I asked, following him down the hall anyway where the maternity ward was.

"Where just going to check the halls down here and stairwells quickly."

I stuck close to his heels, telling myself to be aware of the knives on my thigh as I held an arrow between my fingers, bow loaded. We carefully looked through the doors that were slightly ajar to check if anyone was inside. They were empty or personnel and patients and so were the stairwells but we hadn't gone upstars yet.

"Done?" Edward asked quietly when we returned. After soft chorus of 'yup's we made our way through the ward, and Edward and I went up the steps ahead of the others before telling them the coast was clear.

This part of the bulding must have been solely for babies because up here was where the babies were held with a few more rooms for labor. It had the typical floor to cieling glass wall with some cribs standing up-right, other's knocked over, and a few babies laid dismembered. I gasped softly and quickly turned and pulled the others forward so they didn't see. There was a break, a little corridor that led to another side and possibly a bridge to another part of the building, then the rest were the extra labor rooms. We carefully made our way through that short corridor and stopped at the windows to look at the sectioned off building.

Each floor had a strip of window going around it. Looking at Edward I could see he debated about risking it. If my guess was right, the storage room could be stocked with an ample amount of actual medical supplies so we wouldn't have to stop for that again; and maybe, just maybe, the blood banks were still running and there was some. The lights were still on here. My grip on my arrow tightened. This is good.

"If you're all okay with it, we'll go to that building. It seems this is the ER side. I think we'll find what we're looking for there and then some." Eward said. Jacob, Quil and Eric looked far from up to it.

"And split up there?" Jacob asked.

"I think we've established splitting up isn't a good idea and I'm concerned for Brent." Edward looked at them, his hand finding mine.

"Nikki comes with us of course, so Jacob, you'll lead them back to the car." Jacob nodded. "Give us your gun."

"Be careful." He said gravely, and gave Edward the gun he took before leaving. Edward then took the safety off of the three guns had and handed Nikki and I one.

"Be careful," He told us. "Remember what Brent said?" We nodded. He nodded back and silently led us into the bridge. We didn't let the doors slam to keep the element of surprise on our side and crossed the bridge.

From the signs I knew Edward was right. The specialists were here and, from my stays at hospitals, I knew in-house patients were here too, making it the main building. I gripped my gun tightly with sweaty hands, my index finger curled around the loop in front of the trigger. I admit, this scene triggered my memories and fear from what happened in Forks.

"So the storage room is usually in the basement huh?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, usually."

"Edward, what about blood banks?" I asked.

"I was wondering the same thing but I don't think it's good have that nearby, or near Jasper."

"...sure, but we won't have to build a fridge to store the blood, we can just take one?"

"There's a possibility you can find an undercounter one." Nikki said.

"...the storage room first, then we'll try to find it."

We found another stairwell, waited for any sounds, and slowly made our way down, distance between us, and cautiously and quickly slinked to the stairs leading to the basement. It was a small maze in itself but we found it. Nikki and I served as look out as Edward ripped off the keypad lock. It was completely untouched. We filled our bags and pockets to the brim before leaving. We decided to go back the way we came, longer than finding another exit but we knew it was empty.

"Go back to the car, Bella and I will look for the fridge." Edward said.

"Are you sure?"

"It's faster. If I find an undercounter I can carry it, and it's easier to have to protect just one person."

"I see. Hurry back."

"Just wait ten minutes." Edward added. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away before she could say anything.

Edward maintained his grip on my hand as we half ran through the floor, Edward breathing in deeply to catch a whiff of anything that might leads us to the blood. The main building was a lot bigger which meant we had more ground to cover and more corners to look around.

We found the place where blood donations were processed and it had mini fridges full of blood underneath the desks the personel worked on. Pools of blood were on the floor and I looked at Edward, worried for him but he had mouthful of air. He immediately got to work, gently pulling the unit out and finding out how to detach it from the wall while I watched the halls through the slightly open door. I worried the zombies here, if there were any, were wandering about. But we hadn't seen any.

I had noticed that, for some reason, they stood in place, slightly swaying, in the fields until a sound grabbed their attention. Any sound, not necessarily a human's voice. Edward's theory was that they eventually expire, it made sense and I couldn't wait until they all dropped dead. There's was probably not much longer then since it's been about two weeks. But...maybe they were hibernating to preserve whatever it was that kept them going?...rabies didn't have a symptom like this according to Nikki, I'm sure she would've mentioned it if there was. Eric's suggestion couldn't be true, could it? Why would the government create something like this or even attempt it? Then again-

"Bella." I jumped and huffed a short laugh of embarrassment.

He carried the unit under an arm and held his gun with his other hand, leaving me on my own, and I followed behind him looking behind me to make sure nothing was coming from the halls we just left. I bumped into Edward and didn't pick up on what happened right away.

"Run!"

* * *

 **What would you have chosen? Library, or hospital first? If anyone knows where blood banks and the storage room for all the meds are usually located in a hospital (no luck googling) please let me know.**

 **Thank you mum2shane, Nellyblue11, ameliabedella24, Tramore777, Leria, MommaLaura, Jasper100, dkjkaden, alejandr, escarlet12, and Doreen769** for following and favoriting the story, it's so awesome of you to! I really hope I thanked all of you, not missing one, as the notifications came to my inbox.

So I see I hadn't updated in nearly 2 months, I've been meaning to of course, but I can't explain why, hopefully one day. I know where I'm going witth the story and my plan is to finish it before june, breaking my record for how long it takes to write a fanfic. I didn't have a disclaimer before, but here it is: I don't own the characters but the plot is 100% made up by me, not including the parallels between twilight and this. I'm simply using the names and places so I don't have to do much describing, it's annoying anyway because we all already know 'Bella', 'Edward', etc. and it allows me to skip to the plot developing all so I can get people's feelings and opinions about the concept itself and sequence of events. Because thriller isn't my MO.

So...no plagiarizing, I'm saving it for an actual novel. I don't think I have the right to keep the concept,(vamps, wolves, humans, and zombies) that's like saying a brand can sue another for also making t-shirts, however please refrain from copying the sequence of events. It's a really rough 1st draft anyway, my adivce is to not use this as an example. I reserve the right to this story's first appearance and all related rights are reserved (I plan on writing a short, comprehensive explaination of these rights so other fanfiction authors can copy and paste it to protect themselves, their stories and therefore their dreams).

 **I'll see you soon and thank you for reading this chapter!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Run!" Edward screamed. He dropped the unit and pushed me at the same time. As I caught myself from falling, I heard the running footsteps and looked behind me.

Edward was already shooting at them and blocking some with his forearm, but not all were focused on him. One pushed through and in three strides he crossed the distance and tackled me to the ground.

"Bella!"

My grip on my gun didn't fail and the life-or-death situation gave me the strength I needed to keep it's face away. It was _strong_ and it's spit thick, so I slid slightly to the side to avoid any of it's saliva and blood from getting on my face. I mustered my courage and let go for half a second and shot a hole through his head. My finger spasmed and the gun went off a few times grazing a zombie, hitting their limbs and a lucky shot up through underneath one's chin.

"Let's go!" Edward screamed, and hooked his arm around my torso, half carrying me as he ran to the bridge we came from, the unit in his other arm.

The horde ran after us, lagging only a few feet behind. I pushed myself to run faster, knowing they'd follow us down to the truck and that we'd have to jump on time into the truck bed. Edward busted through the doors. The zombie's speed and weight pushed the doors open, allowing them in, only a few falling to the ground. We were halfway across the bridge when one of the doors opened and there was Jacob.

"C'mon, hurry!" Seeing him gave me extra energy and I ran faster. As soon as we made it through, Jacob pushed in our steel bat through the door handles that kept the doors from opening. They were sort of pushing. We kept running as fast as we were with Jacob and didn't stop until we jumped in to the truck bed.

"Engh!" I grunted, when my body collided into the metal.

"Drive!" Jacob yelled. "Heh heh, Nikki said you'd take ten minutes so when you were running late I went to see what was taking so long." Jacob laughed. I sat up without looking at him. I didn't know I was gritting my teeth and tearing up until Edward laid a hand on shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked slightly out of breath.

"Y-yeah." I said, blinking the tears back. I knew I wasn't scared, it just all happened in seconds seemingly. With cold, unshaking hands I put the safety back on and gave it back to Edward.

"Where to?" Brent said. He had moved himself to the driver's seat.

"The bridge leading into Harrison Mills. The others will meet us there if they haven't beaten us to it. We'll have better luck finding a road atlas in a bigger town but I don't want to delay anymore." Edward answered.

"Alright."

"What's in Denali anyway?" Quil asked.

"A long time ago we crossed paths with another vegetarian family who settled in Denali, Alaska. They've already begun building a wall around their house using the surrounding trees last I spoke with one of them. The cold temperature must have slowed down the rate of infection there at least."

"Mmm." Nikki grunted in agreement.

"So there's more of you." Quit said.

"Many more. Many more." Edward repeated. He rubbed his forehead, suddenly stressed. I realized that zombies weren't our only problem, or where it ended.

But if it took 24 hours for cities to be destroyed, and the world was aware of the disease being a pandemic when it was classified as that, then maybe they've begun to work on something for it or at least started preparing to preserve their people. Right? If we rebuilt soon then we'd be fine before starving traditional vampires became a problem.

Edward began to look over the blood bank and I could see now that there were a few bags in it. Edward made sure the others couldn't see through the glass as he looked at the damage from being dropped.

"I switched positions to be the hero. I'm pretty sure I make a great getaway driver." Brent said.

"You still saved the day." I told him with lopsided smile. I was calmer and had caught my breath but was a little sweaty so I shed my jacket.

With no cops enforcing the law, Brent drove faster than the speed limit creating a steady rush of air that cooled me off.

* * *

The back of my shirt and the hair on my neck were dry by the time we made it to the bridge that crossed the Harrison river. And waiting for us halfway across were the Cullens, fully fed. The plan was to get to Denali as soon as possible, before anything happened there (which Carlisle didn't say, out loud at least). They knew the way there by car by heart. A map would be useful, but if we were only going one way then perhaps it wasn't useful to us afterall.

Edward told them about the blood bags that were in the unit, still good and cold. The blood probably had two weeks since they were new additions to the blood bank and blood had a shelf life of over 40 days. When there was electricity anyway. They tore a car on the highway apart for it's engine and the Cullens began trying to figure out how they could turn it into a generator in the truck bed.

We drove away from Harrison Mills, still on the Lougheed Highway, that would merge with the Trans-Canada Highway in Hope, about a half-hour away, which would take us as far up north as Cache Creek. There we'd have to take the 97 to Chetwyn and go on a different road there that took us through Yukon and into Alaska.

We stopped to collect gas whenever we came across gas stations, syphoning out the remaining gas from where it was stored under the concrete we stood on. It was about 1,796 miles to Denali from here, and the truck could only cover 350 miles per gallon. We wouldn't run out anytime soon since the tank was close to full and we already had a container full of gas as well. But after 700 miles we'd be out and to not avoid becoming stranded could potentially put us in a vulnerable position.

We drove down the winding road that had a wall of stone on he left as if a mountain was cut through, trees growing on top of it. Every now and again we stopped for bathroom breaks and took the opportunity to put in some target practice. None of us were hunters let alone knew how to shoot. At best we were fishermen including myself. I did my business quickly and took up the gun I used back at the hospital. I was lucky I hadn't shot Edward.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Edward said. I jumped slightly and missed my target by a few inches. I had to stop being a jumper.

"Practicing. Or trying to. I could've shot you back there. Who knows what damage that would have caused. S'not like you've been shot before." I said.

"No, I haven't yet. Let me help you-"

"No. I can do it myself." I shot at the knot on the tree I was aiming at before. The bark and wood was splintered, nothing like the gore I had seen.

"Perhaps it was wrong of me to bring you with me to get the unit."

"It wasn't. You would've have been in trouble on your own." I said, my head turned to look at him as I took the magazine out.

"Yeah, I would have been gone." He said solemnly. It was odd that even vampires were as vulnerable as humans were. Almost...demoralizing. I pushed that thought away and counted the bullets.

"Seven." I mumbled and did the match in my head. The pistol could only hold thirteen rounds, unless I had a cartridge full of reloads then every bullet counted. Actually, every bullet did count. They couldn't be reused. We'd have to find more ammo.

"Okay, ready to go." Jacob called as he walked back to us. I put the safety back on my gun forcing myself to remember how the recoil felt so I didn't need a refresher for a while.

It went like that until we came across a sign in Agassiz that said the Pacific Agri-food Research Center was _here_. It had a very official looking sign on it with the Canadian flag and the name of the center in english and french. I found it odd that it wasn't hidden in the woods or something, and that the building itself was only down a short path. It only had a stop sign, no place for a guard to watch from, to ward off trespassers. Maybe they trusted their people.

The Cullens decided they would look through the building quickly, see if they could garner any useful information in terms of farming. They sped off, disappearing, leaving us in the entrance. Even though no one was here or even in the town to arrest us, it still felt like we shouldn't be here. The array of brightly colored flowers lining the path seemed out of place. I dug out some of the each color, roots and all to busy myself until the Cullens came back. The reports they found were very detailed so they now had an idea of how to plant the seeds we found in Abbotsford and grow it.

We got back on the road and had collected another tank full of gas by the time we made it to Hope. We immediately began searching for a grocery store. Edward was pretty forceful about it. We found one with a liquor store and two gas stations nearby, and split up to collect what we could, our car parked amid the cars left behind.

While Edward and Emmett and Rosalie dealt with the unit, I went to grab any food we could use. This place carried produce and meat from local farms which were rotted and gave off a terrible smell and attracted many flies. It also had an organic aisle and I picked up the bags and jars of nuts and trail mixes which would be good if we ran out of canned food. I don't remember ever learning about nutrition in school but I figured nuts were healthy and the high calorie content was a good thing.

I wandered through the aisles, stopping to read the nutrition facts of things I never bought or noticed before, and picked up a basket from the floor when my arms got full. It was quiet, so I couldn't help but be quiet too to sort of pay respect to the place. I ignored the bags of beans and Uncle Ben rice boxes because they required water we couldn't spare. I made it to the cereal aisle and reached for a box of Fruit Loops with a smile on my face. A hand appeared and I took my hand back, freezing in place. Through the shelves I saw a girl about my age with brown-gold hair staring at me with the same shock. She recovered before I did, snatched the box and ran off with loud steps. I started to run after her but stopped halfway down the aisle she disappeared from. What do I do?

* * *

 **Thank you elljayde, LittleLonerFairy, Heavenly Darkness, and twibe** for following and favoriting the story!

The give-me-a-name-or-your-name-to-be-used-in-the-story is still in effect, so if you want to be written in feel free to add to your name. And like I said before, the vampires are slightly different here: stronger, slightly faster faster than a human.

 **I encourage you to try to write your own apocalypse story.** There's so many things that could happen like coming across an underground, end of the world cult that feeds you, gives you a bath just to kill you and maybe eat you.

 **See you soon and thank you for reading!**

 **PS: 'Heavenly Darkness' is a good title for a darkward fic. Just saying.**


	25. Chapter 25 Day 13

Chapter Twenty-Five

I ran back to the side of the store where the Cullens had gone as fast as I could with the basket in my arms.

"Edward, there's someone here! A girl, I saw a girl!" I huffed. Without a word, the three gave up what they were doing and started to run out of the store. A girl like that wouldn't be on her own and the others were away. We ran out of the entrance unprepared for what might happen. None of us were excited to see humans again.

A bigger, 'badder', black truck was parked in the entrance. It's occupants stood on the truck bed wearing thin fabric, clothes everyone had, not the hiking clothing we wore. I looked at the girl I saw as soon as I found her among them. Were they bad people? I seemed to ask with my stare. We weren't the ones to break the tense silence.

"Hello," A man said. "Are you alone?" I stepped closer to our group, Rosalie was the one nearby, and we all looked at Edward. He was the default leader because of his ability to read minds.

"No, we're a large group as well. Are you survivors of the town?" Edward asked.

"For the most part. You don't look from around here."

"We're from America actually. We're just passing through."

"I see." The rest of our group then came, led by Carlisle.

"These are the others, my parents, siblings and friends." Edward said. He must have dubbed them harmless. The other group jumped out of their vehicle and came to shake hands.

"I'm Travis, we were a group of strangers but now we're friends. Christian, David, Roger, Kelly-Anne and Jordyn." The girl I saw, now I know as Jordyn, and smiled slightly as we shook hands.

"Are you all on foot?" Travis asked incredulously.

"No, we have our own truck. One of our own is sitting out there because of a bullet wound."

"Ah. Sorry 'bout that."

"He's still alive and kicking."

"That's good to hear. What do you say to sharing the spoils? That's why we're here, right?" Travis said to us.

"Right." Carlisle said. To be honest, I kind of wanted to sit on our pile like a hen protecting it's babies.

"I wager you haven't had a proper meal in a while either. You can follow us to our camp, eat, rest..." Travis trailed off.

"We have bacon and electricity?" David added. I could sense that we were unsure of going with them, but bacon sounded good. I was tingling with anticipation of a warm meal, of cooked food. Edward and Carlisle shared a quick look before Carlisle spoke.

"I don't see why not, if it's truly alright."

"'Course it is. Let's go."

"We'll met you back there," Carlisle said, pointing to the sign at the back of the parking lot. Travis nodded and his group hopped back on to their truck.

"Canadians really are nice." Eric said. Some laughed but I didn't.

* * *

We pulled out of where we parked and met them at the sign. They led us through the very small town, almost ten blocks across, to their camp. There weren't any fences or barriers along the roads that went around the town. It was simply the road and tall trees standing where the tar stopped. The trees nearly blocked your view of the river the town was surrounded by.

We went off the road onto a dirt path that went into the woods and came to a stop in front of a little blue house. It had a wide porch that went around the building, making it seem like the house was mostly exposed and not really a 'house'. The engines cut off and others began appearing from the surrounding trees and the house.

"Hey!" Travis hollered as everyone gout out of the cars. The new people didn't hesitate to come to us and the first to greet us a middle aged man with a mustache.

"Welcome, I'm Luke." He said, and shook Carlisle's hand. We introduced ourselves quickly again and the group we followed here introduced us to the new people.

The woman called Kelly-Anne had a teenaged son named Liam who looked worse for wear for someone his age. A couple of darker skin people, who were wearing gardening gloves, called themselves Eli and Mia. And lastly, was a positive Olivia who jumped off of the porch and ran to us. She reminded me so much of Emily that it hurt. As for Jordyn...apparently she was alone here, but I could tell she was a strong person.

"We're glad to have you." Luke said.

"We're very grateful." Carlisle responded. "However, we don't want to be a burden."

"You're not, what's ours is yours." I think his large smile was permanent.

"That's very kind of you. If I may, I'm curious about how you were able to have electricity out here?"

"That's easy. I'm an engineer." The Cullens seemed to relax a bit more but I didn't understand why.

"Then perhaps you can help us. We aquired a unit but we have no power source. We do have a car engine but none of us know how to create a generator. It's very important to us that this unit up and running soon."

"I see." Luke said gravely. "I'd be happy to help."

"Thank you so much. We're willing to barter for your service."

"Hmm...I have no problem doing it for nothing, but if you insist, let's go to the house and we'll talk more." We hesitated a little, not wanting to leave our things behind.

"Don't worry, we won't steal anything." Luke assured us. Carlisle apologized and we followed Luke into the house where Olivia had cold brewed tea waiting for us which was nice. I couldn't help but poke at the ice cubes in it. Esme ask for a cup full and left at human speed.

"All I would dare ask for is what you can give without hurting yourselves." Luke started.

"We have winter clothing which may prove useful. We might be able to give some of our food supplies to fill in what your missing. We can give you some of our medical supplies in the case of future injuries."

"We do fine in terms of food, so clothing and medical supplies will be great."

"We also have alcohol, including high proof vodka that can be used as an anti-septic." Nikki said.

"...I think we'll do without. Anything recreational like beer would be nice but none of us want future problems." Luke said. I caught his drift.

"Alright."

"So you'll stay for dinner then, which is nice. We don't see many people around these parts." Luke said.

"We also have showers that you're welcome to use," Olivia said.

"Yes, please." most of us chorused. With the talk over, Olivia showed us to the showers and how to turn them on. Their lives here seemed so normal and comfrotable. Maybe a semblance of normalcy was possible after all.

* * *

We walked back outside to unload our things and complete the barter. The load on their truck was already brought into the house. The items both groups were willing to part with were laid out on the living room floor on a tarp. Their group pointed out what they needed and wanted. Not everyone was there though, Liam wasn't. His mom picked a thick pull over, a pair of pants and two shirts for him. Lastly, we handed over some canned food in thanks for the home cooked meal.

The showers didn't have stalls here which made sense I supposed, the showers in indoor pools I've been to didn't have stalls either. I wasn't okay with it so I decided to wait until the boys were done before taking my turn. I waited in the room we were given to rest in, that Nikki and I moved Brent into. I knew Nikki was his nurse, she was redressing his wound now, but seeing him jokingly say something and her slap his chest despite the fact he was injured made me think they would make a good couple. The skills they possessed made them fighters albeit in two different categories.

The shower was cold, but you can't be picky. My hair was stringy from the natural oils matting it. I dried myself off with a towel Olivia provided and quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes and huddled into a blanket until I warmed up again.

I found out the Cullens were happy to find Luke was an engineer because he could build the generator that would keep the blood we found 'alive'. Esme asked for the ice to keep the blood bags cold where she moved it to. I was glad the Cullens were making the sacrifice to keep themselve going. Without them we'd be nothing. Lost. These people may have been doing alright up until now, but I knew I would die at some point if there wasn't someone faster than me who had my back.

The boys and I decided to go into the woods to practice with our throwing knives and I brought my bow. As we crossed the clearing, Liam was emerging from the woods. We were staring at him, but he never looked up and just briskly walked back to the house. We just shrugged and continued.

The boys at first half-heartedly threw the knives and they ricochet off of the bark but after many tries they began making cuts. They just didn't penetrate deep enough. I had better luck with what I picked. It helped that I could see the trajectory better as opposed to the gun where I had to aim and hope it struck where I wanted it to. The scope that I could attach to it would be great for far away targets, like a sniper rifle.

We did that until it was dinner time, and it was already dark out when that time rolled around. With a small bonfire giving us light, we ate from our laps and sat in a circle around it. The blood bank already had it's power source and was sitting in the truck, covered in a blanket to keep any of it's blue light from showing, we've all showered and changed, and the crispy bacon and rice felt amazing in our bodies. We made small talk with Luke's group but never came close to anything serious. However, the mood quickly lightened again when we started playing games together.

When the Cullens noticed we've been here for too many hours, they got got up and began to say their goodbyes and thank yous. The rest of us followed suit, reluctantly, but Luke convinced us to stay the night.

"It's pitch black out, and I'm certain it will do your bodies and minds good to sleep in an actual bed considering what you must have gone through to make this far." I don't think it was because of those reasons the Cullens said we would stay. We were having fun, for the first time in a long time.

Our group slept in the one room given to us on the bunks this camp provided when it used to be in business. We didn't have pj's so we stripped until we were comfortable enough to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of footsteps slapping against the wood of the porch. The sky was just beginning to lighten in color, so it was early in the morning. From where I sat up, I had a view of Liam running into the forest, fully clothed with a bundle under his arm. He was gone earlier yesterday and no one was freaking out, so I laid back down hoping to get back to sleep and not miss out on an extra hour.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Thanks mari alice for joining the group.**


	26. Chapter 26 Day 13

Chapter Twenty-Six

When I awoke, the sun was up and shining brightly. We packed up quickly and were ready to go, but I noticed Liam still wasn't here. My heart started to beat faster. I feared that he went too far and was bitten or died some other way. I ran to find his mom, and found her leaving the house.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you've seen Liam this morning. Because I saw him leaving last night and I don't see him around?" She sighed and smiled lightly.

"He does that. Liam is...struggling with his addiction to drugs. This is how he's been coping, I suppose. Thank you for telling me-" She was saying, putting a hand on my arm, but was interrupted by Liam who was screaming and running out of the trees.

"Mommy!"

"Liam?!"

"Ma-Mom, I'm sorry, I fucked up." He sobbed.

"What? What are you talking about-?"

"Alright, everyone front and center or we'll start knocking you down." A booming voice said. A group of five men, holding what looked like army grade guns, emerged from the trees, spaced out like they were cornering us. The one who spoke was holding a semi-automatic up. It was _huge_. Luke and Olivia came from out of the house and walked to us slowly.

"Now, surely we can...come to an agreement?" Luke was trying to stay calm, but his voice wavered.

"I ask the questions." The man said, pointing the gun at Luke. Everyone gasped, and Luke and Olivia held their hands up.

"What did you do?!" Travis growled at Liam. Liam just sobbed in his mother's arms.

"Like a dog, the boy fetched what we wanted in exchange for a 'treat'. And each time we'd ask for more. After last night we knew there was more to have." Semi-auto answered with a grin. My stomach dropped.

"Looks like we scored nice, pretty meat..." A blond one said through his joker-like grin.

"Yeah..." Another practically moaned.

They looked at me, Jordyn, Alice and Rosalie like we were something to eat. Emmett and Jasper came closer and pulled their significant other to their sides. My hand found Edward's. The 'Joker' cackled, rocking back and forth on his heels, his finger on the trigger of a monstrous looking rifle. None of them should have weapons of any kind. My body went cold when I realized they'd take ours and we'd be defenseless. I shifted slightly and fingered the garter that held a hunting knife before deciding to stuff it down the back of my pants and the garter into my pocket.

"How many of you are there." Semi-auto said.

"Eleven." Luke answered. They all craned their necks to count us all.

"Max, pat the guys down. Johnny Boy, the girls. Dyke, check the place." Semi-auto ordered. Max was the one who practically moaned when agreed with 'Joker'. He was extremely muscular; the t-shirt he wore stretched across his frame, defining his pecs and how hard his abs must be. Edward squeezed my hand before moving to the right. Even if the Cullens wanted to do something, they couldn't with the weapons and amount of people there were.

Joker, or Johnny Boy, put on the sling of him gun and jogged to us with a slight hop to his step. They patted us down hard from our ankles to our chest. When Joker got to me, I saw just how much he was enjoying himself.

"I'll be gentle..." He said through his grin. He more gripped than patted my legs and worked his way up while I stood stiffly with my hands in tight fists. I was never touched like this, oh my god-make it stop! I screamed in my head. He squeezed my ass and gripped my hips.

"Well, well. What have we here?" He pulled the knife out, the naked blade making a long scratch. I gasped.

"I'll make you make that sound again." He swore as he patted my torso. He winked at me and walked back to Semi-auto's flank.

"There's a lot. We're gon' have to come back for it." Dyke reported to Semi-auto.

"Alright. Follow Screlli," Semi-auto said to us, and gestured with his gun to a buff guy in a tank top. We hesitated but moved when 'Joker' yelled a loud, odd sound at us, making us jump. We started walking and Joker, Max, Dyke, and Semi-auto fell into position at our sides and the back. What as happening now reminded me so much of what we just escaped from that head jerked back a few times. Edward's trick from then wouldn't work this time.

We walked and walked for what seemed like forty minutes. My stomach had long stopped grumbling and in it's stead was a headache that made me feel dumbed down. Judging from the slight soreness of my calves, we had been walking for nearly a mile deep into the forest.

You could hardly tell we were at their camp because their green tents weren't visible through the branches and shrubs. They seemed nomadic, perhaps on foot or had a vehicle hidden somewhere. Immediately we were separated and pushed towards opposite sides of the camp. Semi-auto pulled Liam out of the bunch.

"Now you can join us kid! What do you say?" Semi-auto said, slapping Liam hard on the back.

"N-no, I don't want to!" He cried, pushing away from him.

"Too bad." He fire multiple rounds at him.

"No!"

"Kelly-!" His mom ran to him and when Liam's body fell, the other shots fired went into her.

"-Anne!" I stared horrified, hearing nothing but ringing in my ears. Their bright red blood saturated their shirts in seconds.

"Whoo!" Joker howled.

"Nobody move or you're all next!" Semi-auto yelled. The Cullens had their hands covering their mouths and noses, not unlike the rest of us who were in shock.

"Haven't they killed a human yet..." Max grumbled. They continued to push us and used a bungee cord to strap the girls to a tree which was worse than rope because it was stretched, cutting into our abdomens, making the nausea worse.

"Max, Dyke, Screlli, follow me back to move the loot. The sooner we do it, the sooner we can celebrate..." Semi-auto said. I wasn't looking forward to finding out what the 'celebration' entailed.

* * *

They took their time moving everything here, pulling a tarp with our things pile on it by the cuts on the sides. It took a few trips, several hours to move it all to the camp. Olivia had stopped crying by then, and Jordyn was still holding up. Esme though, was with the others.

"We're set!" Joker cried.

"We're set alright..." Screlli said looking towards us. He barely showed emotion so it was hard to judge what level of crazy for us. But if a human could snap another in half like a tooth pick, he could.

"Later," Semi-auto said, and started opening the bundles we had packed when we were going to head out.

Despite having more than enough to last them a month easily, they didn't waste any food when opening cans for a quick meal as they looked through our things and talked about taking over the Engineer's group's camp. Not like they'd actually get to keep it all. We would get our things back, and get to Denail. If we made it past what we have, we'll make it past _this_.

But seeing them eat was torture. I squeezed my eyes shut, and willed myself not to lose to my body's hunger.

"Would you ladies care for some?" Semi-auto said. I stared with my eyes casted downwards. I heard him step to where we were, the grass blades crunched under him. He looked to either side of me (Jordyn was on my right and Alice on my left) before settling on me. A spoon full of cold, canned beans appeared in my sight. I looked up to see his smirk and looked back down, debating whether or not I should oblige. I didn't want my mouth where his has been; I'd rather starve. But if I didn't, I might offend him and someone could die. I captured it into my mouth and looked up, then slowly pulled away from his stare.

"Good girl." I swallowed hard.

With their hunger somewhat satisfied, and inventory taken, they began preparing the dinner for their celebration.

"You're gonna love this girls..." They talked to us like that every now and then. I was surprised to see them warming things up over their fire. I thought they were uncivilized.

When dinner was nearly done, Joker and Max came, with masses of red fabric in their clutches, to untie us.

"Proper ladies have to be dressed properly right?" Joker said with his deranged smile. Apparently those red masses were dresses, one for each of us.

"Hurry up and get changed." Max said, sounding as if he were about to burst.

"Here?" I asked.

"Yeah," Joker responded.

"Um, proper ladies don't undress in front of men." I said with a bashful quality in my voice.

"This is good enough." Joker said seriously.

"W-we'll just behind those bushes. We would be in your view the whole time."

"Mmrgh...fine. Go." He said.

"Let's go." I said to them, and guided Jordyn and Olivia in front of me.

Jordyn's dress had a tight bodice with a full, tulle skirt whereas Rosalie and Olivia were given long, form fitting dresses with a plunging neckline. Rosalie's ample chest stressed the strips that were tied in knot behind her neck. Alice's and mine were short and had spaghetti straps, but her's had a layered chiffon skirt and mine was like a slip with a slit on the side.

"Hurry it up!" Joker yelled.

"We're coming, we finished." I yelled back.

"Now what do we do," Rosalie growled.

"I only see a lot of fire, not really what happens." Alice said.

"Just be quick on your toes, we'll figure something out." I told Olivia and Jordyn, and stepped out of the bushes with Alice and Rosalie in front.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Thanks Rosalinex5 for following.** I actually have loads of ideas for twifics and so little time XD. I'll slowly but surely write them all, I think. Oh, and I forgot to say: Hello Jordyn! Hope you don't mind the character so far.


	27. Chapter 27 Day 14

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Crates and boxes were arranged into a table and we were dispersed between the men. I sat between Semi-auto and Joker, Jordyn sat between Joker and Max, Alice was between Max and Scroll, and after Scroll was Dyke, then Rosalie, and back to Semi-auto. Dinner was baked beans, vienna sausages and canned corn with cups of wine; but they had cloth napkins like this was a special occasion. My mind quickly put all of the clues together and I feared what could happen. They were too close, and my nearest weapon was my fork.

"What's the occasion?" Rosalie asked, a little too calmly.

"To celebrate you ladies. Tonight is going to be a great night." Semi-auto said with a grin, raising a glass.

"You shouldn't have." Rosalie responded. The other men raised their glasses while the rest of us didn't. Perhaps hope wasn't lost with Rosalie and Alice so close. I just had to make sure Jordyn and I were out of the way. Knowing the others, they were working on getting themselves out of their binds, or however they've been left, with all them distracted. We should distract them for a few minutes longer.

"The...food looks good." I said, moving my fork from the left side of the paper plate to my right hand. Semi-auto smiled at me and I smiled back. He and Joker were good fighters, my best bet was to not be near them but still have my fork in case of anything.

"You'll love the sausages later." He said. Joker cackled.

"So, how long have you guys been out here?"

"A while. I've been homeless for a long time before this happened. I had zero intention of dying so when the time came, I got what I needed." Jokers started cackling, some of the chewed food spilled out.

"We're doing all right, but men are different from women. We need more than food to keep going." Semi-auto started. "Women can be cold hearted bitches. Not anymore." He grabbed my wrist and squeezed. It took everything I had not to pull my hand away. "Now you're vulnerable. You need protection and food, and we need you." He leaned in closer for extra effect, as if his glaring eyes weren't enough. I forgot for a moment what the plan was, until I saw glimmer of hope. Edward. I jammed my fork in to the back of his hand and ran around to grab Jordyn's hand.

"Come on, let's go!" With sunlight glinting off their skin, they ran through us and pulled the crew away.

"Start running, that way!" Jordyn yelled.

"No, we can't leave Kelly-Anne here, not like this!" Olivia blubbered. I looked behind me and the biggest of the men were trying to get the upper hand by grabbing their guns. The Cullens pulled them away and snapped their necks. It sounded like a chicken bone being snapped in half, but many times louder.

"What the fuck!" I turned around and saw Travis with a horrified looked on his face as he stepped back. The rest of the people from the Hope camp were coming closer. By then the Cullens were finished, however they didn't stop to acknowledge them.

"We're not alone, vampires are coming!" Alice told them.

"Vam-" Luke was going to repeat.

"How many?" Jasper asked, stepping in front of her.

"Four, one female." Edward ran to me, and Olivia jumped back. Jacob and Quil shapeshifted and the Hope camp then couldn't accept us anymore.

"No freakin' way..." David breathed. Olivia ran and hid behind the.

"Jordyn, c'mere!" Roger yelled. More indecisive than scared, she did was she was told.

"Move, move, move! Let's the hell out of here!" Christian yelled. They didn't have to be told twice.

"No, you don't understand-there are other vampires coming here!" Edward urged.

"Kelly-Anne and her son's blood must have attracted them." Carlisle deduced.

"They're here!" Alice screamed. The rustling of the leaves in the trees were then loud enough for me to hear.

"Go, go, go!" Christian continued to rush. Luke, Eli, Mia, Olivia, and Jordyn were pulled into the forest and forced to a sprint.

"Jordyn, no!"

"Let's go after them!" Edward shouted. He pointed to Rosalie and Emmett while the rest of the Cullens started running. Jacob bounded to me and pulled myself onto his back behind Eric.

Two people was dangerously close to too much weight for them, but Jacob and Quil pushed themselves to run ahead of the Cullens. The others were in our sights but the wolves skidded to stop when four people fell and landed in a crouch in front of us. When I could finally look, I saw it wasn't the Cullens. They all hard bright red eyes, the female had dusty rose colored hair, and the leader was in the middle. All looked to be in their twenties.

"Sorry to crash your hunt. Losers weepers?" the leader said. At that they ran in the direction the humans went, their laughter echoing in the trees.

"Hurry!" Edward shouted, and led us.

"This isn't our fight! We shouldn't get involved unnecessarily." Rosalie yelled.

"Are you going to join them then?" I screamed at her.

"That's not what I mean!" She growled.

"You might as well join them if your aren't going to stop them! Faster." I told Jacob. After seeing Kelly-Anne and Liam's deaths I wanted to save them, at least those who weren't afraid of us. Just, someone.

From what could see, the traditional vampires were weaving around the humans, hissing and scaring them. Whenever they tried to run away, they were blocked. The Cullens tried to pluck them away but they barely fought. It was hard to see where the camp Hope members were; they were spread out.

We kept running after them, the wolves running off to the side, out of the way. We were barely gaining on them they were so fast. Then suddenly Jacob and Quill stated whinning and huffing through their nose, shaking their entire bodies.

"Woah, what's wrong? Jacob!"

"Stop, stop, stop!" I heard Edward yell. "They're aren't alone."

"Whooooo!" The leader screamed. "Game's over. Feasting time..." Something grabbed me from behind and I barely had time to scream before the forest floor and Jacob was far from me.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Thanks Joy Kathlyn, ana261, cbmorefie, marlane for following. I really love your name Joy btw, it's great for a character. Do you mind if I ever use it?**

 **I don't know how many of you dislike that the traits of the Cullens have been changed.** Just because only one has expressed their opinion against it, I won't pretend that the rest of you don't feel the same. Maybe you're just being nice. But long story short why they've been changed is because getting out of trouble would then be too easy, a little Ex Machina; but the **only** thing different is that they are slightly faster than humans and have lots more stamina than them unless they're hungry.

 **Perhaps when this version is all over, I'll re-upload the chapters so it's more of a binge read but many have called this interesting so its up to you. Do please voice your opinions.**

 **On a slightly heavier note,** I bet you know just how awful a human can be. But remember that you're far from the only one who experiences that. No matter what happens, don't give up on us. It's vital that you don't lose your humanity in our world.


	28. Chapter 28 Mountaintop

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 _Previously:_ The Cullens and a group of survivors from Hope were captured by a nomadic band of bandits and the Cullens have just neutralized them, when a group of traditional vampires were closing in on them. Leaders of the Hope camp pushed their other members to run into the forest while the rest ran after them to stop them. The traditional vampires reveal themselves and make it into a game before getting bored and plucking humans off of the ground.

* * *

I grasped the arm that had me tightly. One of the male vampires had me under his arm as he ran through the trees, jumping from branch to branch. I could hear others' screams that were soon cut off. This vampire chuckled under his breath as he jumped down into a clearing. I was dropped and immediately noticed the infected vampire in a cage, and so did the others.

"Hey, how's it going Liam? You've been holding down the fort for us right?" The leader said, as if this person were still here. It jiggled the bars, bearing his fangs.

"I know you have. We brought you some new friends." He continued.

"Maybe we should drop one of them stinkin' vegetarians, see what happens for ourselves." Another male suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." The leader said with a chuckle.

"Can we please keep the dogs? We can have them changed." The pink-haired female said.

"Even better." One of theirs had been infected. And they kept him.

"Why not all three?" One said, and grabbed Jordyn by her hair. She cried out in pain and kicked at him.

"Feisty, I like it. Maybe I'll have you for dinner instead?"

"Later Logan. We've got competition to get rid of." The leader said.

"We're not your competition." Carlisle said.

"Can't you see he's dead?!" Jacob yelled.

"He's just hungry, but not for long!" He shouted and the three of them charged at the Cullens. With human blood coursing through their veins, they were a little faster and stronger. I saw the leader grab Carlisle in a headlock and screamed. A light gray crack appeared in his cheek before he got out of it, and pulled his arms off. Emmett came from behind and tore his head off. Meanwhile Jasper was trying to catch one that bobbed and weaved. Edward was busy subduing the last male and only female of the group with Alice, Rosalie, and Esme's help.

In the end, they were a pile of limbs on fire, including the infected one, putting him out of his misery. Before killing him, Carlisle tried to talk to it, his first chance of doing so to an infected vampire. But it didn't respond. Or showed any sign of remembering who or what he was. He was just hungry, reaching through the thick, metal bars for one of us.

I didn't at all feel bad for them. I felt relieved. At some point they would have become infected too. The other must have gotten infected because they weren't careful of who they fed off of. But I worried for Edward. I looked up, and through the smoke saw him staring down at the blue flames. He's done so much killing. They all have, than the rest of us. But if he or the others became too thirsty and became infected...how could I avoid that when I couldn't even kill one of the zombies myself? How could I kill him, if he became infected protecting me? How could I kill any of them?

I knew I had others to protect. I'd start training now.

A few feet away were what remained from Hope camp, a blubbering mess. Carlisle sighed.

"It's safe now." He said. "We aren't your enemy." Jordyn tore herself away from Olivia.

"No, don't!" She cried. Jordyn stalked towards through the overgrown grass.

"I want to join you." She said. I breathed and put a hand on her should, then hugged her. I didn't know what to say to her. Pulling back I saw Carlisle nod, Esme then pulled him towards her to see his face.

"Jordyn come back!" Roger yelled.

"Leave her." I heard someone else say. Guess no one else wanted to leave Hope.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." Emmett growled. We wanted to save more survivors, deep down inside. But when they found out what we were, they were just as afraid. Maybe that's that.

"They won't hurt you." I told Jordyn as I boosted her up onto Jacob's back. I chose to ride with Edward, deriving strength from him. He seemed to too, catching up to Carlisle and running beside him.

We quickly returned to the bandit's camp and picked up our belongings, leaving what we didn't come with behind in case the others returned for it, and continued to camp Hope to our truck.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" I asked Jordyn.

"Positive."

"Alright then." We all climbed in and got back on the road, that led straight to Denali.

Carlisle drove us as fast as the truck could go, causing the wind to blow through our hair. I sat leaning back, resting my head on the little wall, watching this world pass by, letting the wind tangle up my hair. The day started to break a little while later, and I wasn't the only one who decided to stay awake. Food was passed around and everyone was quiet for some time.

"What are we going to do in Denali?" Eric asked.

"I don't really know. Try to live."

It was decided we would only stop for bathroom breaks, and some of the Cullens would look through the buildings nearby to stock what we could but we didn't stop for that when we drove into a new town. The plan was to get to Denali by the next sunrise.

Rosalie had tried calling the Denali's on the way but there was no service. The phone lines were officially down. It's been 14 days I think. Yeah.

I think it's too late to save this place.

* * *

The trees grew thicker, and mountains more frequent. We layered on sweaters and jackets as it got colder and colder the closer we got.

A backpack of canned goods was passed around twice before the sky started to darken. My anxiety increased every time it got a shade darker. I felt safer during the day when I could see everything. Our lights were off to avoid drawing attention to ourselves and blend in, but everything else blended in too. I felt like if I turned my flashlight on, a zombie would appear in front of me or something would suddenly happen.

"Are we alone?" I said, my voice sounding louder than the car to me.

"Yes, promise. We're keeping a look out." Edward assured me. He reached out the window to caress my face and I leaned into his hand. So long as he was here, I would be fine. Or could keep pretending. I started to wonder if any of them were.

After it's been pitch black for a few hours, it became too cold to leave my hands out of my pockets. The stars were out tonight. I hadn't seen them in a while. For a second I worried something would find us because they were too bright.

Soon, Edward announced we were crossing the border. We drove past this small booth and down the dirt road until Carlisle turned onto an unmarked path. We went a few miles into the Denali forest at a snail-like pace until there were too trees in the way.

"We have to make the rest of the way on foot." Carlisle said. Those of us in the back stretched, popping sounds erupting all around, before jumping out. The Cullens wore some of the jackets before taking a few of the bags out, what we could carry. We hid the truck as best as we could with some branches they tore off before beginning the hike up the mountain. At the very top, was what would be our new home for a while. Even if the Denalis weren't there.

But they would be, of course they would. I chanted that in my head over and over, with each step. The humans required a few breaks but as light began to reach us through the trees, we could see the walls. When we reach it, we walked around it until we found the entrance and Emmett called out loudly:

"ELEAZAAAAR! CAAAARMEN! TANYAAAA! IRI-"

"You sound like a pinning lover." A female voice said.

"Tanya!"

* * *

 **About two weeks late but here's the update. I took so long because I've been having trouble finding a job but recently got hired as a retail associate. So I've been doing that and amassing what I've neglected in my struggle of job hunting. Better late than never, this job not the update. I hope you've been doing well.**


	29. Chapter 29 One Day or Right Now

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 _Previously:_

"ELEAZAAAAR! CAAAARMEN! TANYAAAA! IRI-"

"You sound like a pinning lover." A female voice said.

* * *

The door cracked open from one of the edges, the entire wall making a dodecagon, and a strawberry-blond girl about my age stood there, wearing leather and fur.

"Tanya!" Rosalie cried, and immediately pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'm glad you all made it." Tanya said, hugging her tight.

"How are Eleazar and Carmen?" Carlisle asked.

"We're all fine. Now come in, let's get you out of there." She said, and held the door open wider. You could see their house standing a few meters away, two large squares on either side of their house of just dirt that I guessed was to grow food. Everywhere else the grass was untouched, a few alaskan wildflowers peeking out of it.

"Thank you. These are our friends," Carlisle introduced us all and she shook all of our hands, but lingered on me.

"It's so good to finally meet you," She said to me and pulled me into a hug. "I heard so much about you. Too bad we couldn't meet under better circumstances." Edward put a hand on my shoulder.

"Good to see you too Edward. Come, the others are in the house." She led way, down the path of grass between the gardens to the house. When we got closer to the house, four others came out of the front door and waited for us. It turned out to be Eleazar and Carmen, the mother and father of the family like how Carlisle and Esme was to ours, and Tanya's sister's Irina and Kate wearing fur jackets. They ushered us in when they saw Brent and quickly accommodated him in the living room.

Inside the stone brick house, above the spacious living room, were wooden beams that stretched across the ceiling to the other side of the room where there was a large fireplace. Hanging off the wall, a flat screen tv that would remain out of use until the zombie problem was fixed. This house was what I imagined a lodge looked like. And I was sure it was insulated so we would bear the rest of the winter just fine.

"We've prepared rooms for you all, but catch your breaths here." Carmen told us. Like Esme, there was a warm, motherly tone to her voice. We shed all of our weight as Carmen and Kate disappeared and reappeared with mugs of tea.

"You must be so very tired," Carmen said as she handed out the cups. I had noticed she and Eleazar had a slight accent. Interesting they settled here from other parts of the world.

"How is Alaska?" Edward asked.

"It's quieter in the mountains but we were able to build walls around some animals. As for the people in town...in hiding I suppose. We haven't seen any of them when we went there to collect food, or many zombies." Eleazar answered.

"Most likely they crossed the border from Canada, but it won't be long before the virus adapts to the cold weather." Nikki said taking her mug.

"Still, let's have hope." Carmen said, but she didn't sound so hopeful herself.

"The electricity lines went down a few days ago. We couldn't reach you, so we could only hope you were ok. I'm glad we were right." Kate said.

"We did our best with the walls. We're hoping it can be a permanent crisis house." Eleazar said.

"We aren't experts, but we'll make sure it is." Jasper responded. Everyone was silent for a moment, and I couldn't help but think they wanted to know more about what we had faced, talk more about our situation, but didn't know how to ask.

"We'll take it day by day." Eleazar finally said, and grabbed his mate's hand.

We talked a little more about ourselves so they got to know the rest of us, and they told us a bit about themselves and how they came to live together. I never once thought about how maybe some humans grew up to be scared of monsters in general, but the ones we attracted, Nikki, Brent, Eric, and Jordyn accepted it as if vampires and werewolves were as natural as humans were. After that, we were shown to our rooms. There were five in total, four of which were used by them and the last was a guest bedroom, but the three sisters moved into one room so we had space. All the girls of our group shared one room, while the males were split between two rooms. Carmen noted out loud that perhaps the house should be extended so we weren't so squished in.

Over time this place would become home.

* * *

I breathed out, a cloud of warmth vanishing into the cold air. It was June, supposedly summer, but it was only 47 degrees Fahrenheit. The trees, though, were as green as ever and snow no longer covered the ground.

I sat atop a roof in the residential area of Nenana. Supposedly a city, population: 376, at least it was. It was quite a ways away from Denali. The many mountains and rivers there were between cities worked to our advantage, but the distance and the many airports because of the distances did not. The number of airports, one in every city I bet, was a very big con. But the rivers were clean and the fish safe to eat, and this season the vegetables in our garden would be ready to be picked. So the humans were fine. Funny, us humans had sort of became vegetarians like the Cullens and Denalis.

The Denalis and Cullens were doing fine too. They sucked the blood out of the fish, maximizing our food source, and carefully fed off of the animals the Denalis successfully trapped. We had to keep them alive. We had a system to prevent one animal from being fed on too many times, and there would be a probation period for that animal before blood can be derived form it.

We've also found a way to keep things cool without the use of refrigerators, by burying bins inside the ice cold soil. And keep warm by burning chunks of wood in the fireplace. Feeding the animals, tending the garden, and chopping wood were few of the responsibilities we had. Waking up early to do that became routine in the two months we've been here. The average temperature for Alaska was still cold, however, our fur coats kept us warm.

A few other responsibilities were collecting food, either canned goods from the seemingly abandoned cities or gathering edible plants and nuts from the forest. That's why we've come so far from Denali. We've already completely cleared out the nearest cities.

I slid down the roof, and hung off the edge for a second before jumping down. Down the driveway was Edward, waiting for me.

"Clear." I said, as I walked towards him. He nodded. We quietly moved on to the next block, hand in hand. These trips were usually done in silence, our process of going through the entire place routine.

And, sure, I've thought of becoming a vampire. It might make things easier, but we didn't have many animals either. At some point, perhaps, the Cullens and Denalis would have to feed on us. Then, Jacob and Quil would have something to fight about but I didn't want that to happen.

Since coming to Alaska though, I've become angry. I had gotten over the shock, sadness, and grief. And I trained myself every single day, in using my bow, an ax, guns, and in hand-to-hand combat. If I ever came face to face with a zombie again, or a human who posed a threat, I would not hesitate.

The others seemed to overcome their damage as well. We held our funeral for our families lost a few days after arriving, replanting alaskan wildflowers to pose as their graves. Though we still missed them and remembered our simpler days that included them, we've been healing, having more of those simpler days with each other.

We easily quickly combed through the town, meeting up with Nikki, Jordyn, Jacob and Quil, filling a couple of backpacks with goods, and a few jugs of gasoline from the two gas stations here, and Edward had drawn a flawless map of the place in case we needed it. Over time we had found ways to use everything we found and developed an eye for things possibly useful. Now we can head back home in our truck, which we've since modified to bear more weight and mow down hordes of zombies. There were larger tires on it, elevating the body, and a grate in the front, a cage along the perimeter of the truck bed, and spikes all over. Some elements found in hunting trucks were also added so our vehicle could be a safe island amidst a horde.

The rest of our family welcomed us home by helping us unload and put away our findings.

"Missed me?" Nikki teased Brent, who limped towards her.

"Always."

And there was always warm drinks and baths waiting for us when we got back.

"Bella and I are going to take our bath outside this time," Edward let everyone know. There was a chorus of ooOOoo's. I didn't shy away but my cheeks still flushed red.

Not that long ago we had discovered a natural hot spring that we now used regularly as an activity to unwind and relax our muscles. Edward used his speed to shed his clothes and get in, in time to watch me undress. I stepped on the stones we laid on top of the soil with bare feet and started stripping down until I was naked, all the while smirking at him. He could be such a boy sometimes.

As soon as I was inside, I nestled myself in his arms, the coldness of his body no longer a problem. He smiled down at me, brushing my hair upwards with his free hand causing a shiver of pleasure to run down my spine. In every free moment we were together and all over each other.

I didn't flinch but merely opened my eyes, staring up at the blue-gray sky when he nibbled his way up my chest to the side of my neck.

"Marry me." He said in a low voice at my ear.

"...what?" He lifted his head.

"I'll change you, one day or right now, whenever you're ready. But for now, marry me." I searched his eyes but there was nothing that told me this was a merely sudden gesture.

"I've always known I didn't want to live without you. I only started to live when I met you. When I was away I thought of you every day, wondering if I had made the right decision, mourning the time I spent with you. I still think to myself that I was stupid for doing that.

Lately I've been thinking about losing you, and I can't bear the thought of living in this world without you. I wouldn't survive." I gritted my teeth, willing the lump in my throat away, but the waterworks had already started. His arms tightened around me.

"I'll make sure we have all the time in the world. I won't lose you, and you won't lose me. Please marry me." I pulled his face down and cried into his neck.

"That's all I ever wanted." I squeaked out. "When the time is right, I'll ask you to. I don't want us struggling." He nodded, and we stayed embraced, our faces in each other's neck.

* * *

 **Thank you so much** Peachylovefairy, Kathryn, sugari16, and gargirl0181 for following and favoriting - ah, what a pick me up.

Stupid me was crying when writing the end of this, whilst having Freeze You Out by Sia playing on a loop. I figured fluff was needed but hell, I enjoyed it too. Though the song may not seem to fit, since it's about a girl keeping another at a distance (or whatever), perhaps I had put the make-up too early in the story and this is the right time. Plus the lyrics video has a frosted photo as the background and I imagined Alaska being a little white washed, idk, it's gray where I am too.


	30. Chapter 30 Cut

Chapter Thirty

Life after an apocalypse, the traumatic part at least, was fairly easy. Our chores took most of the day and we spent the rest of our time playing board games or playing outside together. It did get boring often enough, and in that silence I wondered about the outside world. All we knew was that it was 'quiet', but we didn't know about the state of other countries or if any one of them were already making efforts to clean up the disaster. Or if none of them were. Though our clan had made a living here, it wasn't 'normal' to us. We were just not on the run anymore. And our camp wasn't a permanent fix like the life we used to live that seemed to have no end. I would love to go back to a world like that. I had to, or I wouldn't be able to live on with Edward as a vampire. Surely a country was able to remain intact and have started looking into restoring the world?

The others were thinking about this too. We figured we'd need a military grade radio to try to contact someone from another country, but we had no idea where to find an army base. So we decided to continue combing through Alaska until we came across one. Alaska was, after all, part of the U.S. and we were Canada's neighbors so there must be a way to communicate with nearby countries.

We made our way up the road to Fairbanks, one of the largest cities. Because of that, we had almost everyone on deck while the Denalis stayed behind to protect our camp and do a routine check of the forest surrounding it. As always there was a bit of an open space of overgrown grass leading into the town, and I scouted the area with the scope of my rifle with the others in the car. Driving through these open spaces was target practice, and here the open space was four times as big as the football field at Forks High School.

"I've got one Bells," Eric said with a grin. A pop rang in the silence.

"No, _I_ got one." I laughed. He wasn't disappointed. He regained his focus and shot another down.

Edward continued driving down the road, and zombies became more frequent. We usually came across one every few miles and whoever got it was the winner. But now the number was close to double. We all noticed and the game was over. We'd save our bullets in case we ran into trouble later on.

Edward had to drive way past the welcoming sign to get to the nearest intersection. There we unloaded, and this time's watchers grabbed their semi-automatic rifles. We didn't have many, so someone in our groups of three had one of three semis for horde emergencies. Eric and Emmett had to stay with the truck so Edward and I were on our own.

I already had my handgun strapped to my thigh and a hunting knife hidden in my boot, so I grabbed a long-range walkie talkie to relay information to the other groups. When we found them, a few days ago, they immediately became part of our gear. I adjusted my knitted hat and scarf before jumping out of our truck, semi on my back and a hunting rifle in hand. With everyone out and geared up, Eric and Emmett drove off on the same road to scout the roads out before finding a place to hide the truck and stake out. And we split up, Edward and I would find the 'cause' of the major open space we passed while the others combed through the southern sectors.

We jogged back up the road, routinely looking in all directions for any activity, and across the large field of overgrown grass. Soon we made it to the other side and found a botanical garden that was now a cemetery of native and introduced plants. Behind it was the International Arctic Research Center, underneath the name of the building on the sign, it said "of the University of Fairbanks".

"It's a college campus." I said out loud.

"Which means there's dorms." Edward said. We looked around us, expecting to see people scurrying across the field. There was no one of course. Nevertheless, I fixed my grip on my gun and we continued down the road the building was on. We passed other buildings that were part of the campus before getting to the main building. Looping around we found the recreational center, then the dorm. We didn't find any litter outside but we figured it might have been purposefully kept clean. Rounding the gray building was another like it with a large window exposing the stairs in the center and windows on either side. There were ten windows on each of the five floors, maybe fifty rooms in all. At least fifty individuals could live in there.

Edward signaled to me with his fingers that we would check it out and enter from the back. I nodded, and ran behind him when he gave the go. The hallway was fairly messy but there was no blood. We walked to the front, finding the first floor was made up of amenities like a gym, and checked the front door. It was open. The check-in was clean. We found the stairs on this side of the building and started looking through the bedrooms.

The dorms were like apartments. Each had five bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and one bathroom. In each bedroom were unmade beds, full closets and cluttered desks. All of the belongings were still here. It seemed like a great place for survivors to hide out.

"We found the airport down here." The radio chirped.

"Copy that." Edward answered. "Maybe everyone was evacuated and flown out." He surmised.

"Yeah, maybe." I said.

We finished there and moved on to the next building, finding it in a similar condition. We exited and continued across the campus with Edward relaying what we found.

"We found a college campus up here. We're headed to the next area. Geist road still visible. It might cut straight through the city. You guys keep looking on your side and we'll look through here." He said into the receiver.

"Geist confirmed." Emmett said. "About two miles down it becomes the Johansen expressway, which stretches 4 miles across."

"This side is two sector's thick." Rosalie said, referring to the grid patter major roads made. "Jasper's, and Carlisle's group will search through the far south area, and ours will continue across."

"Let's meet in the Hamilton acres, four miles left of you. Edward and Bella will have to look through Slaterville, between Johansen and the Chena River. I'll drive around Hamilton." Emmett said. Each group took turns to say they understood the plan.

"Let's get this done before nightfall." Edward said to them, and we jogged to the other side of the campus.

Once we've made it back to Geist, we headed west to the next community. When I got hungry, I scarfed down two granola bars as I walked, and washed it down with water from the portable bottle I had attached to my backpack. Each backpack had one and a duffel bag inside to fill when we scavenged. Thank goodness for vampire strength. Edward carried our load, no problem.

We looked quickly through Totem Park, knocking on the doors to make sure no one was there and saved as many goods as we could, checking the expiration dates first or we'd end up carrying useless weight. Edward called Emmett when we had too many things, and Eric came and helped us load it up on the truck bed. If we found too much, we would dig a hole in the nearest forest, stash our find, and write down steps to get to it so someone could come back and get it. Eric drove off to pick up what the other groups had, and we moved on to the next community. There we found a feed store for farm animals and I thought how great it would be if we had a cow or some chickens.

After a while we had to call Eric back to pick up other things we found. In the truck bed were nets full of cans, a few boxes and a full jug of gas.

"Not bad, eh?" Eric said.

"Most things were already expired. I-" I decided to stop talking. No one was in factories packaging more canned food. Once they expire, we're out. No matter where in the country we went, there would be no food. That realization made me facepalm myself. Eric kept loading it all up, I don't think he heard me. We're running out of time, again. Can we really rely solely on vegetables? I didn't think so.

We noticed the sun was going to set soon, and we pushed ourselves to work faster, skipping a few places. I had found my pace when Eric interrupted it.

"Hey! I found an airfield!" His voice sounded from the radio. I fumbled to unlatch it from my backpack.

"A what?"

"I said I found an airfield." I turned to rush to Edward so he could hear this, but he was already standing there behind me.

"Did you go inside?" Jasper asked.

"N-no...?"

"Good. Where exactly are you, we'll meet you there?"

"Um...there's this loop off Gaffney road. I'm hiding in the trees there. Just follow the river."

"Bella and I will cut through Hamilton." Edward told them.

"We haven't come across humans, I'm going to shift." Jacob said. I heard Carlisle approve that plan as I climbed on Edward's back.

We cut through Hamilton in fifteen minutes, Edward catching Emmett's scent along the way, and found a road bridge that took us across the Chena river. Off it, we were already on Gaffrey road. We followed it, passing an air strip, to a loop road we figured was the right one. Seeing us, the truck was driven out of it's hiding place to us, Emmett and Eric inside. In the next minute, the rest were back, Jordan and Nikki on Jacob and Quil's back. They quickly got off and they phased. I shifted my eyes elsewhere while they put their clothes back on. It truly was an airfield. But it was fenced in, with barbed wire looped at the top.

"Does anyone know how to fly a plane?" Jacob asked. We looked at Jasper.

"We used horses in the Confederacy. It was a land based war." Our eyes moved to Edward.

"I don't know." He said.

"You lived 90 years and never had a lesson."

"I wasn't expecting the apocalypse."

"Everyone get in." Carlisle said. We shed our bags and piled into the trunk bed. Alice perched herself on the roof of the car, the size of the gun almost swallowing her, to pick off anything that tried to get close to the Cullens running beside us. The rest of us did the same, watching our sides and back. We drove around the perimeter, continuing on the road we were already on, and found the main entrance open. I lifted my gun to look through the scope into the watch tower on either side of the front gates.

"No one." Nikki and I said.

"Maybe they left." Eric said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Go on." Edward said. We drove through the opening to the dark grey building that loomed a few meters away. I found it strange that an army base would have so many windows, and look like a modern architect was paid to design it. The building was split into two, I'm assuming to separate departments, with a single large bridge connecting them and floor-to-ceiling windows exposing the inside. We climbed out of the car, and Edward nudged the door open to poke his head in before going inside and we followed.

The inside was grey too, and the window panes the sun shone around made a cage pattern on the wall and floor. Sort of huddled, we made our way down the hall, trying to keep the slapping of our shoes on the floor to a minimum. We were a little uneasy but once doors appeared we started looking into them to see if any one of them was a communications room. I wandered down the hall to get to the stairs and get a head start at the second floor. I wasn't consciously expecting anything, but I did find it weird that none of the doors were locked since they all harbored some sort of sensitive information. The small windows they had were caged too. I tried to push my thoughts away and focus.

After a few minutes, the others caught up to me and I directed them to go up from the other side of the hall, then went up the stairs on my side. The rooms were mostly offices and dormitories. The base was small so I supposed everything was crammed into this building. I quickly found the bridge and went straight to it. From there, on the third floor, the view was great. The sun was setting and disappearing behind the trees, casting shadows across the airfield. At that I turned on my flashlight and continued the search. A few yards in and this building seemed more promising to me. I made it to a restricted area that required the swipe of a card to pass through. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I jumped.

"Geez, Edward. You scared me." I laughed. He gave me a wry smile but his eyes were serious.

"It's dark, don't go off alone."

"Wasn't. You're just slow." I joked. He pinched my ass and I swatted his hand.

"Locked?" He said, and jimmied the handle. Then he turned it hard and pushed, breaking it, causing a loud pop to ring through the hall. We started looking through the rooms, he looking through one side and I the other. I found a room that looked promising. There were flat screens hanging off of the ceiling and wall creating a curved wall of screens, and a desk area where computers and boxes of buttons and switches created a wall around it. There were headsets on the table, a few corded phones, and two chairs with wheels sitting there with the back rests not facing the desk. I pressed and flipped a few of the ON buttons and switches. Of course none would turn on, there's no power. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward enter the room.

"Whoa." He said.

"We have to find a way to get the power back on here. A place like this would have a back-up generator somewhere in the basement." Edward turned to the walkie talkie.

"Bella might have found the room but we need to restore the power. Half of you keep searching just in case, and the other half goes to find the generator." He said.

"We might need gas." I told him. He passed that message along.

"Let's find a manual or something for this." He said to me, and we started looking through the drawers and cabinets. When I worked at Newton's they had manuals and the like for new hirees to read. Maybe something was kept around here.

"Bella." My head snapped up and I saw Edward point his gun at the middle aged man in the doorway who had his hands up and looked like a deer in headlights who was most likely going to get run over. I picked up my gun and pointed it at the woman behind him.

"Whoa! M-not a zombie, not a threat…" He mumbled in a rush. "Juneau, wait." He said to a woman behind him.

"We're just survivors looking for the HAM radio here. Looks like you found it."

"The what?" I said.

"Ham radios can reach other countries. We want to call Britain." He responded. I looked at Edward then back at them. There was more than two but he sounded like knew what he was talking about. We had no idea about it.

"File in." I said.

"Ok, but can you put down your guns?"

"No." Edward and I said in unison. He let his group in one by one. The woman, Juneau, was first then a younger woman, a man close to the first one's age and a younger male about the same age as the second woman. Those two are most likely in their early twenties.

"Okay…" The older man said.

"Are anyone armed?" I asked in a hard voice.

"Just him." The older man pointed to the other older male who took out a small hand gun, and held his hands out, finger obviously not on the trigger.

"Put it on the desk." Edward ordered, and I readied myself. He calmly came closer, placed it on the metal, then stepped back. I gave them all, standing against the wall, another once over before putting down my gun. Edward, too, put his down.

"Okay." I practically sighed. "We've had bad experiences before. That's all you need to know." I said defensively.

"It's alright. No harm done."

"I'm Bella." I said, and held my hand out for him to shake.

"Noah Bethal. This is Juneau Thorne, Lissa Smith, Liard Dawson, and Heiden Bettles." He introduced in order. They were a little hesitant except for the soldier Liard. perhaps because I was holding two large weapons. Edward followed after.

"You know what this is, do you know how to use it?" Edward asked Noah. Liard spoke up.

"I do, I worked in a national defense building in Canada."

"You wouldn't happen to know how to fly a plane?" Edward asked.

"No, I don't. But there aren't any planes. We checked. We came from the other side of the airfield."

"Must've been why we didn't run into each other before." I thought out loud.

"Yeah." He said. I grabbed his hand gun and gave it back to him.

"No funny business."

"We're focused on getting back to civilization." He said, seeming slightly offended.

"So are we. Then we're friends." I said.

"I'm glad." He responded.

"We're not alone either, " Edward started. "Part of our group is looking for the back up generator."

"I see. Then I guess we'll wait here." I nodded and pushed the chair farthest from them to them and sat on the desk instead. It was silent for a while, while I fidgeted.

"So." Edward cleared his throat then. "What other professions make up your group?" He asked conversationally.

"I'm a virologist." Said the first man.

"Oh." I said surprised.

"I'm an elementary school teacher with a background in psychology." Said Juneau.

"I'm just a student but I've done a lot of camping and survival training, not really in preparation for this." The younger girl said. I huffed a laugh. She let out an awkward one.

"I was a police officer in training. I'm not a good shot though." The younger male said, slightly depressed.

"Didn't meet the undead?" I asked.

"Not much. Not really, no." He said.

"Lucky." Then little lights above all the buttons and switches turned on. I jumped off the table and stared closely at all of them. The radio chirped.

"Did it work?" Eric said, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Yes it did!" Edward responded.

"We're on our way." Eric said.

"Let me see," Said the soldier. He pulled a chair under under him, I stepped back and let him do his thing. He flipped other switches and pressed the buttons on the keyboard quickly, bringing the pages he need up on the screen. I couldn't understand any of the graphs or whatever. My heart acted strangely as I watched him.

"Hello? Hello?" He said into the receiver, and did more things, changing the channels I think. We all came closer, looming over him, and when the others got back, they did too.

"-ello?"

"Hello? He-

"Hello?" The other person said louder.

"Yes, hello! I'm Liard Dawson calling from Fairbanks, Alaska. I'm a Canadian soldier of the reserve and I'm not alone. Please help us!" He said through his grin. We didn't hear anything for a moment.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" He said, his grin gone.

"Yes soldier, I can hear you loud and clear. I'm glad your alive." I could almost cry. I'm glad you're alive.

"What's the status?" The man asked, sounding unhopeful.

"There's nothing here." He responded in the same tone. The man on the other side sighed.

"We figured as much. You've reached Great Britain. My name is George Cameron. There is a secure, walled base here where life is as normal as is used to be. If you can get to Cartwright airport in Newfoundland in four days, then you can be here too. They'll wait until midnight for you."

"We'll be there!" the soldier told them. The rest of erupted into cheers and hugs as if we had landed the rover on mars. This was definitely better than that. Suddenly Nikki headed towards me with her arms open. I started crying and laughing and hugged her tight. When we let go, I covered my mouth with my hand. Then Edward pulled my face towards him and kissed me hard over the wall of monitors. By the time we've all calmed down, the soldier was done talking to the man and was pulling his headphones off.

"We're saved!"

"But that's on the other side of the country. Can we make it?" Lissa asked.

"Plus, we're six and a half hours earlier. We naturally lost that time." Juneau said. My mind jumped to all of us riding a vampire or werewolf, but they didn't know about them and we didn't know how they'd react. If they'd keep it secret. It had to be kept secret in the new world. I was about to become depressed until Liard spoke again.

"Then we have three days and a half. If we drive 100 miles per hour, we'll make it with time to spare." We had to leave immediately, when we've made a home here, I thought.

"Do you have a vehicle?" Edward asked him.

"No, we were going to take one." Noah admitted.

"We have one, but it won't carry all of us." Edward turned to the rest of our group and gave them a slight nod.

"Then we'll find one and meet you where yours is." Liard said.

"We're not well prepared to make that trip together either." Eric said.

"Besides, Eleazer and the others are back there." Rosalie inputted.

"There's more?" Noah asked in concern. For a second I thought we could go on our own without having to hide ourselves if they decided to go ahead.

"We have more supplies there. If you need anything else, we can give it to you. But the rest of us do need to return to our base." Carlisle said. Liard and Noah looked at each other and their companions.

"We'll go with you." They decided. Carlisle nodded.

"Alright."

"Emmet and I will take Liard outside. You lead the rest with the others." Jasper told Edward. I handed Emmet the semi and readjusted the strap of my rifle.

"Alright, let's move. Eric and Bella, north. Nikki and Jacob, south. The rest, sides." Edward delegated.

"Right." We chorused. Eric and I made our way through to the front while Edward told the others we'd make our way to the front in a huddle.

"Then let's get going." Noah said.

Heart pumping, I lead the group out into the hall and turned on the flashlight I had taped to it. Emmet, Jasper and Liard then broke off and headed to the stairs on this side while the rest of us went back the way we came. I told Eric I'd go keep the path clear and jogged a few yards ahead. The building layout was like an angular U, so I had to make my way around two corners. But when I got to the second where the bridge was, there stood an undead soldier, in camo, with his arm and that half of his torso missing. I flattened myself against the wall and signaled with my hand to the others to stop and be silent. I turned back slowly, finger on the trigger. I'm sorry. I shot him in the head, the bang louder in this hall than outside. I took a few steps forward then froze. Running footsteps coming from the other side. I could hear it faintly. It grew louder and louder, then the horde crashed into the door, opening it.

"Go, go ,go!" I screamed, and shot at the glass floor but it didn't shatter like I hoped. Is it fucking bulletproof?! I turned and ran, quickly catching up with the others.

"You forgot to say you brought friends with you!" I yelled, over someone else who shouted:

"Down, down, down!"

We ran down the stairs, tripping as we went, and Eric lagged to help me hold the horde off with his semi. The bodies became hurdles, and the other zombies tripped over them, and fell down the stairs to where we were. Eric held down the trigger and shot at them and I continued to shoot the others, all soldiers wearing camo or other uniforms.

As soon as the others were a flight of stairs down, we stopped and ran to catch up, the horde at our heels. Looking back, they couldn't really run down the stairs. They took a running step of a stair and when they picked up their other foot, the fell onto the next stair. They crashed into the wall and pushed themselves off, and I kept running, jumping steps.

We pushed through the doors on the bottom floor and bounded towards the truck, the horde crashing through and following after us. Ahead, the engine was turned on and it rumbled, the headlights and other lights attached to the caged truck bed lighting the scene. Everyone threw themselves in, and I climbed to the roof while Nikki tried to buy us some time with her semi. With so many of them, some were able to poke their heads in, the others acting like meat shields. Eric let out a blood curling scream. I pulled out my hand gun and hung myself off the edge, holding on to the frame, and tried to get a clear shot in the dark interior. I heard it gurgle and Eric kept screaming.

"Hold on!" I shouted, and whoever was driving, made a sharp U-turn and sped through the front gates. The frame cut into my hand as I held on to keep from falling off. The others kept shooting, and the zombies weren't stopping to feed off of the ones shot like I hoped. I heard Edward tell the other group to flee the area quickly, and we kept speeding down road, to put distance between us.

We left at the highest speed the truck could go, and didn't stop until we made it to the open space of the University. By that time, the zombies were far behind. I jumped off the room and immediately checked on Eric. He was bleeding profusely. Little rivers of blood flowed between the fingers of his hand he had gripping the wound. I pulled him out and laid him on the ground. Eric rocked slightly, crying and groaning in pain.

"Eric. Move your hand." He slowly moved it down.

"I've been bitten, fuck!" He cried. I stared at the bite, all of the teeth imprinted. Nikki came down and strapped her belt around his arm above the elbow, tightly.

"Jacob, get your long blade." He came quickly, blade in hand.

"Start cutting."

"Bella, what are you doing?!" I put all of my weight on him, and held his arm down. Understanding, Jacob kneeled down and used all his strength to cut through the muscle and break the bone. My eye line was parallel to Eric's arm, and I saw his blood spurt out when Jacob cut him. Eric screamed louder than before, it catching, and kicked his legs. Nikki ran and got some alcohol, poured it on the stub and wrapped it up with the gauze in the first aid kit we always brought with us on a scavenging mission. This was supposed to be routine. I got off of him and rested against the truck's large tire, while Eric downed some of the alcohol. His severed arm lay a few inches from him. The bite was closest to his wrist. But did the virus already spread to his upper arm? Staring at him, I deduced he was fine. It's been a minute, and he hadn't turned.

"Jesus, fuck." Heidan said.

"He's going to be fine." I said.

"How do you know? Kill him now!"

"I said he's going to be FINE!" I screamed. I hugged my knees to my chest and quietly sobbed.

"He would have turned by now." Edward said, and laid a hand on my shoulder. The radio chirped, and Jasper asked where to meet us. After a minute, they rolled up next to us in a mini van and surveyed the new situation.

"Well. Let's keep moving." Jasper said, and Emmett picked up a passed out Eric and laid him in the truck bed. We divided ourselves between the two cars and continued onto the main road to head to Denali.

* * *

 **Thank you so much** edwardcullenlover22, Maasikamoos, babesbraves, Jodo-Eragonsson, hbooks, panther73110, Hannaha11104, and Mayceex3 for favoriting and following.

 **I've been sick with a fever that wouldn't go away with reducers. It's since calmed a little, allowing me to ride it and write. I hope you enjoy this uber long chapter.**


	31. Chapter 31 Divided

Chapter Thirty-One

 _I_ _'ve added an index at the top so you can see who we're working with. I couldn't make it compact and nice. It wouldn't save like I wanted it. Looks like th_ ere will _have to be fewer names. Huehuehue ;)_

Character Index/Status

Carlisle...Alive

Esme...Alive

Rosalie...Alive

Emmett...Alive

Alice...Alive

Jasper...Alive

Edward...Alive

Bella...Alive

Jordyn..Alive

Eric...Alive

Nikki...Alive

Brent...Alive

Jacob...Alive

Quil...Alive

NEW GROUP

Noah Bethal (virologist)...Alive

Juneau Thorne (teacher)...Alive

Lissa Smith (survivalist)...Alive

Liard Dawson (soldier)...Alive

Heidan Bettles (police officer in training)...Alive

* * *

I decided to ride in front and sat with my eyes closed, trying to rest. That was an adrenaline rush I had never felt before and wished to never feel again. Memories flashed in my head and I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to think of my close brush with death. The only thing that saved us was standing on the truck, a height a little above the zombie's heads. Too close. I jumped when something touched me. I glanced down and saw it was Edward's hand on my forearm.

"Are you alright?" He said softly.

"...yeah." I almost whispered. "He's going to be fine right?"

"Carlisle and Nikki are back there. He'll make it back and there Carlisle will stitch him up."

"Okay." Emmett glanced over to us before turning back to the road. He drove with the windows up, Rosalie in the back with Esme and Alice who sat in Jasper's lap. The only way to save themselves from the smell of blood.

Going four times the speed limit, we made the normally three and a half hour drive in fifty-one minutes. Carlisle carried Eric on his back and ran ahead of us to the camp without being seen by the new additions to our group. He'll warn the Denalis about them.

"So you've been living at the top of this mountain?" Noah asked as we hiked. I turned. I was in the lead, then Edward, Noah and the rest hiking up the hill in a clump.

"Yes. Nine weeks now." Edward answered.

"Great choice. The virus hasn't adapted to the cold yet." Noah said with a grin. I got the feeling he very much loved his job.

"You said you're a virologist. Do you think there could be a cure?" I asked him.

"Well...maybe. If a vaccine is created. But live samples of their DNA is needed. Bio-chemists need to extract a protein, connect it to vectors and duplicate that DNA a billion times by growing it in bacteria. Then treat the spliced DNA and vectors with restriction enzymes that will cut into the virus' DNA at specific locations when it makes it into the virus' nuclei. It's a PCR, or Polymerase Chain Reaction technique that will disintegrate the virus from the inside but will also cause the human body's immune system to attack the cells the vaccine is trying to get into. Double warfare!" He said excitedly. "I was going to be a biochemist but I didn't want to work for a pharmaceutical company making vaccines."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I could only understand 'protein' and 'spliced' from biology class.

"But it by-passed the immune system the first time?" Nikki said.

"That's why there's a chance it might not work. The virus has managed to avoid stimulating the immune system when it infected the body. But if a vaccine using this technique activates it, the immune system will then attack the invaded virus cells, because it's an invasion of something foreign, a reinfection of the virus because the vaccine is based off it and therefore a simulation for the immune system to safely develop immunity. The vaccine attached to the infected cells and virus would be like a red flag. The immune system can't miss it now.

With the immune system activated, T-lymphocyte cells will be produced which will also attack the virus. They're are dubbed 'memory' cells because they remember what they've encountered before and jump to fighting the virus when it reappears in the body. Like the common cold. In other words, if an uninfected person gets the vaccine, their body develops immunity and if they get bitten, their immune system can eradicate the virus all by itself. It will take many shots, like with rabies which is similar to this virus.

However, the virus completely takes over the healthy cells by invading them and replicating itself using the human cell's ability to divide. That's one way it spreads, the first way is the virus invading healthy cells. So..."

"The vaccine may not catch up to the virus and not be a cure. The person will still turn." I said.

"Right! If a person who was recently bitten was pumped with a few shots of this vaccine, it _may_ work. But it's just a theory."

"But what about the uninfected cells. Will the vaccine infect the person with the virus?" I asked.

"No, because it isn't a live vaccine which is made up of a weakend version of the virus. It's the actual virus only made weaker. The vaccine with this PCR technique will be free floating DNA and will flow through the blood stream till it latches onto an infected cell or virus. It's made to invade those, not a healthy cell. It's in it's DNA." He grinned at his own joke.

"So essentially the person will become virus free. But if the person is too far gone...perhaps the chances of bringing them back lessens." He said.

"But you need a lab for this." I said.

"Yes. And I will have one when we make it to Britain." He said with a smile. If he makes it.

They didn't notice Carlisle and Eric's absence at all. At the mountaintop, the gate was already opened, and Eleazer stood by to close it behind us. It took a vampire to close that door. He introduced himself to the others and referred to Carmen and the other women as his wife and daughters. Inside, Carmen, Tanya, Irina, and Kate waited with slightly more food for dinner. They exchanged pleasantries, introduced Brent, and we got to eating. Though I didn't want to eat, my stomach wanted food so I forced it all down, not wanting any to go to waste.

Carlisle came down from upstairs, snuck in, and claimed to not be hungry. The others did the same while the Denalis claimed to have eaten before. The newcomers were clearly hungry and they were all noticeably happier at the hot, home cooked meal. After a few minutes, allowing them to almost finish their meal, Carlisle started telling the Denalis about the radio call. I stared at them to watch their reaction while I lowered my glass of water.

"Britain," Eleazar said, sounding surprised, and grabbed Carmen's hand. She and the other women looked concerned.

"Yes. I'd like for you to come with us. We, of course, have to go." Carlisle said. We _had_ to go because seven out of fourteen of us were human.

"I appreciate the offer my friend, but...I think what is best for our family is to stay here." Eleazer responded. I knew the Denalis didn't have perfect control, but I thought they would try, to get away from here.

"But that's suicide?" Liard said.

"Besides, we may be able to help any other survivors roaming around and send them your way." He said looking at him. He turned back to Carlisle. "This is our home, and we will defend our home." I couldn't help but wonder if they truly decided to die. Or if they were going to drop their vegetarian lifestyle in order to survive.

"But the sterilization," I said under my breath.

"If we change our minds, we'll find you there," Eleazar said.

"Well alright..." Carlisle surrendered.

"You better get going if you're going to make it."

"We'll miss you," Esme said and she pulled Carmen into a tight hug.

"We'll miss you more," Carmen said. The rest of us moved to say goodbye. Though I knew Tanya still liked Edward, we've still become friends. So did the wolves with them despite their 'stink'.

Our groups split in half, one mix going upstairs to repack bags and the other rationing and packing food. The newcomers were redressed in proper winter clothing that was tight so nothing snagged on anything and nothing can really grab them by it. With the fabric stretched across tightly, it's hard to get a grip. They had the essentials like hats, gloves, and hiking boots but we filled in, in the underwear department.

I finished my part and went to grab some food so Eric was quickly fed and we could leave. He was laying in his bed in the boy's room, face gray and Nikki was replacing the bandages he bled through. The sight of it almost made me gag. I knocked on the door lightly with my knuckle.

"Hey." He rolled his head to the side to look at me.

"Hey." Nikki wrapped things up and left us alone.

"Sorry. About your arm." I said awkwardly and sat by his bedside.

"S'okay. Better than being a zombie. Hurt like hell though." He said and looked at me with a strange look in his eye.

"Sorry..."

"How did you know it would work?"

"I didn't. I'm glad it did. Are you in any pain?" He was silent for a moment.

"Yeah." He finally said.

"Right. Dumb question. I brought you food. Good thing you're awake. We're moving out in a few minutes so eat up."

"I can't really stomach that right now. No offense Bella, but, you did cut my arm off. I'm a little scared of you."

"Oh...right, I understand. I'll leave." I put the steel bowl on the nightstand and quickly left the room. I skipped down the stairs to tell Emmett Eric was ready to go and caught Edward crossing the living room with a heavy-duty bin of rations. I turned when I felt a presence behind me. It was the Denalis, watching us leave one by one.

"I hope we see each other again," I said. I hoped they remained as they were, and our friends. Eleazer nodded and the women gave me a warm smile. I smiled at them before leaving the house.

I ran down the slope to where the cars were hidden at the half point to the camp. The Denalis had helped move everything down so the truck was packed and ready to go except for three things. I picked up a bag that sat beside the truck and threw it in. Emmett then appeared with Eric in his arms. Beside me, Edward lifted the last of our load before climbing in, and I jumped in after. The engine was started, the truck was backed up, and was driven away from home.

* * *

 **Thank you so much** VintageFlowers, RKD-CULLEN, and Mariskaatje for favoriting and following.

It was fun learning about this PCR thing but it was a bit of a pain writing it in. I used my critical thinking to explain and answer the questions but I'll have to read an actual book on it and come back to it to make it absolutely correct. The process is definitely is right though.


	32. Chapter 32 The End

Chapter Thirty-Two

The truck rumbled as Edward drove at 60 miles per hour down the rocky road of the mountain. The rest of the Cullens crammed themselves into the truck, while the rest of our group held on in the truck bed. Carlisle and Eric rode in the backseat of the new group's minivan, away from their sensitive noses.

"We're starting with 288.96 gallons of gas, we have 9 refills including the gas in our tanks. With a full tank of gas we can cover 600 miles, times 9 is 5,400 miles. Divide that by 60 miles per hour and it's 90 hours in total. The distance is 5,448 miles." Edward mumbled.

"We have 89 hours exactly," Jasper said flatly.

"Even that's cutting it close." Rosalie grumbled.

"Drag from weight plus the decrease in mileage per gallon..."

"Basically we're going to need a shit-ton more gas just so we can speed it up a little," I said.

"And that will waste gas," Edward said. I took out my mini calculator.

"If we bump it up to 70 miles per hour, I estimate we'll be running on fumes in 77.4 hours." Edward said.

"The truck takes up 12 gallons, the van 20 for the same 600 miles. Divide the distance from Denali to Cartwright by 600, we'll need 9.08 refills. Multiply that by 12 for the truck...it's 108.96 gallons. For the van its 181.6 gallons. Add those and subtract the total gallons we have-" I was saying.

"We need 1.6 gallons of gas to cover the last 48 miles." Emmett said.

"That'll be easy." I said. "And when we're close to running out, we'll have 11 hours to find the last 2 gallons."

"It will be 3 am on day three Alaska time. Maybe 6 am if we're three provinces across." Edward said.

"At 5,000 miles out we'll start collecting. If we add any more weight to the cars now, the efficiency will decrease and so will our miles covered per gallon." Jasper said. At that, Edward pressed the gas till we were going a 70 mph. The minivan lagged for a moment before speeding up. I took out a notepad to keep track of mileage and hours, mostly to keep myself sane. _It's 1:36 am now_...

Because of the mountainous region, Edward had to drive back around through Fairbanks, at which we were prepared to shoot any zombies that made it out of the gates of the airfield. From there he used the map we found of major roads in Alaska at a tourist spot as a reference and got on Richardson Highway. We couldn't find a road atlas which had road maps of every province in Canada but these roadmaps at least mapped out the entirety of its province and labeled the province capital. Capitals were often major cities with populations in the 5 figures. In those places, we would most likely find a lot more gas left behind than in small towns because more truckfuls had been delivered to meet the demand. Though the difference between the amounts found wasn't much, by skipping small towns we might waste less time and increase the amount by 50% per two capitals we collected from.

The gas we had now was what we found on scavenging missions to be used to travel farther to look for food. We stored them in nine gray trash bins, with a 32-gallon capacity each, we've tethered tightly to the cage around the truck bed with bungee cords. Thankfully we've amassed enough.

Edward drove down Richardson to Delta Junction then moved on to Alaska Highway which took us across the border into Yukon Territory. Normally I would be asleep but I was so keyed up. I wasn't the only one. Besides Eric and the passengers of the minivan, everyone was awake. Food and coffee were passed around to those who ate a while ago, Nikki had to pass it to me through the window. The coffee was in makeshift packets made from wax paper. I unfolded one side and poured the powder into my water bottle and shook it. I preferred my coffee hot but this was fine. We stopped once so far to refill our tanks. 224.96 gallons left.

By the time I was hungry again, we crossed the Yukon Territory border into British Columbia. The road we were on annoyingly weaved in and out BC until it made up its mind. The mileage counter was 1,111 miles farther along, and I calculated it's been fifteen hours and 5 minutes. _61.9 hours to go_...

Alaska Highway had become the 97 which ran along a river. Because of that, there were state reserves, protected areas, and no towns for the first 273 miles. We had to stop a third of the way to refill again. Fort Nelson was the first town we encountered, and like Fairbanks, and all the other small towns we've crossed, it was empty of sounds, birds, and trash was bellied up by the wind. But filled with zombies, about half of the total population of that town. Nikki, Brent, and Eric used them as target practice though it was pointless now. Maybe to take some down before we go, or out of revenge.

Two meals later, around 9:30 PM in BC time the sun set. Because we weren't so far up north, we actually saw the sunset in color for the first time in over two months. It was quite the sight. In Denali, sunset was basically just a thick blanket of clouds that inched across the sky. It was almost suffocating. We never saw it like this.

The sky today was absolutely clear of clouds allowing the naturally born colors to glow. The northern part was a deep blue, then light blue, even lighter, then a thin streak of orange and finally yellow. It looked like Twilight. The same colors as when Edward and I were standing in my driveway when he looked up and told me it was twilight. I reached under Edward's hand and weaved my fingers into his. He smiled tenderly at me in response.

"When we get there we'll stay together, right?" I asked.

"This time it's forever." He said seriously with a nod. I remembered our conversation at the hot springs.

"Then, we won't be struggling anymore." In the backseat Alice giggled and nudged Jasper. _Sixty-one hours_...' _til forever_.

I watched the sun intently until the sky became dark again. After a while I couldn't stay up any longer and fell asleep on Edward's lap.

...

I didn't sleep for long. My body must have know I wanted to be awake for most of the ride. When I woke, we were in Alberta, the province next to BC, on Dawson Creek-Tupper Highway. While rubbing the sleep from my eyes I tried to do the math. The mileage counter was 1,691 miles father along, which meant we've been driving for 24 hours. Plus the hour we spent in Denali putting everything together, it was 11 PM in Alaska time or 2:30-something AM in Newfoundland.

"Isn't it already day two in Newfoundland?" I asked.

"Yes. We have 2 days and 5 hours. I'm going to make sure we make it." Edward said, and gripped my hand tightly.

...

I was up for four hours before I ended up being lulled to sleep by the constant _whoosh_ sound the car made, and slept for the entire night. When I woke up, it seemed like nothing had changed. Everyone was still watching the scenery pass us by.

"How long have I been asleep for?" I asked edward, who was still driving.

"Twelve hours. We crossed Saskatchewan and we'll soon cross Manitoba."

"Oh..." I mumbled and turned to the road. There was nothing but pine trees on either side and clear blue skies. I found it beautiful, like we were being led to the end by a divine path. Behind me in the truck bed, Nikki and Brent were playing poker. Alice teased them with her visions of the future, and Edward threatened to spill their secrets. The stakes were high since Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie had put money on who would win. **For** **ty hours lapsed**.

I wasn't much of a poker fan so I returned to my records. I subtracted the miles we traveled from the total miles in gas we had, then divided it by 70, resulting in the number of hours it will take to make it to Cartwright. I almost had a heart attack before I realized that we had a few hours to get the remaining 1.6 gallons as Emmett had said. It would be 8 o'clock in the morning in Newfoundland now, leaving us 16 hours before midnight.

By sundown, we crossed Manitoba and were 13 miles into Ontario. My sleep cycle had gone out of whack, so I ended up staying awake some of the night and going to sleep at 2 AM.

...

When I woke up, I thought I was still dreaming or I was elsewhere because everything was in French.

"What does that say?" I asked.

"Route de Toussac." Edward said. I turned to look at him and stared for a second. His voice was something else when he said that. Maybe it was cliché, but I liked the way he spoke french.

"What?" He asked.

"N-nothing. Cool, you speak French."

Route de...Two-suck was like driving through a prettier Forks. Little white flowers peeked from the grass blades and stood out against the thick, glowing shades of green and ran beside a dark blue river. Apparently, it led straight to a town called Toussac so we switched onto another highway, and continued on our way as normal past all the small towns with names I couldn't pronounce. Things were normal until 2 hours or so up the road, covering over 150 miles. We haven't come across another town in that distance was what was wrong. We figured it was similar to when we were in British Columbia and that we'd give it another hour before we started to worry.

After a while, we did find a place called Manic-Cinq. Population 0, except for the staff of the B&B. It looked like a 'last stop to fuel up' place so only the bare necessities were available. We got out of the car and headed straight for the gas. I stood there for a few minutes and there wasn't a zombie in sight, yet, while the others tried to suck out the remaining gas. Such a place had the potential of having some or nothing at all.

"Damn, barely any." Jacob grumbled, a little stream of gas flowing from the hose into an empty, red gas container.

"How much was that?" Edward asked.

"A few ounces or something. We still have some gas in the tanks. Maybe we'll have better luck at the next stop." Jacob said.

We returned to the truck and kept going, through Relais Gabriel where we got a slightly healthier stream, then Gagnonville that didn't have a gas station at all, and Labrador City, the first city we crossed in Newfoundland, where we scored nearly 2 gallons. By our estimate, we needed 4 to get both cars to make it. Just a few ounces more.

We could only get a little stream at Churchill Falls, but after that was Happy Valley-Goose Bay where our chances looked good. The sun had already set about 4 hours ago. It was half past midnight in AK time now, between 7 and 8 AM in NL. Daylight hours and the time we had left lined up perfectly. We hated doing things at night, we avoided it whenever we could. None of us had nightvision so we couldn't see zombies or others. We had to rely on sound and sometimes smell. But a pro of going at night was that you could hide in the shadows amongst dead bodies and not be found. In broad daylight there was no hiding, you just had to kill them before they killed you.

Driving past the welcome sign, all we saw was what we recognized to be a small airport so people could travle to other remote places like in Alaska.

"Is that it?" I mumbled. Sometimes, in Alaska, there was just an airport and not a single house.

"We'll have to go deeper then..." Edward mumbled and continued driving.

When we finally made it, we decided we would go on foot to avoid burning any more of the gas that would take us close to Cartwright airport than necessary. Since the new group didn't know how we liked to do things, we divided ourselves and then them between our groups. Edward, Noah, Eric, and I were one group, Jordyn, Carlisle and Esme another, Liard, Heidan, Jacob and Quil the third, then Brent, Nikki, Jasper and Alice, and lastly Lissa, Juneau, Rosalie and Emmett. We had to split 3 semis, 6 hunting rifles, a bow, throwing knives, a machete and a hunting knife, minus the blade I always had strapped to my thigh, amongst 19 people. And the bow was pretty much useless in close combat. Our walkie talkies had also run out of battery that we used to recharge using a generator but we'd be quick about things.

"We'll meet back here in an hour." Carlisle said.

"We should be able to cover a mile in that time." Jasper noted. I took my hand gun out of it's holster and gave it to Lissa. Eric's rifle and my bow were enough. With a jug or empty water bottle for each group to store the gas we found, we split up.

My group walked with Liard and Carlise's until we reached a park and Liard led his group to the other side of it and Carlisle said his group would take the northeast side. Ours continued farther up north. So far we were able to run past the zombies, taking down a few with my arrows, that the zombies didn't react to, but the number of them didn't lessen. Their numbers increased exponentially as we passed the park and we hadn't gone very far into or area yet. Edward signaled with his fingers that we would hide by a dumpster then go down the avenue. I scurried behind him then I heard loud metal clattering. I turned and saw Eric fumbling to pick up his gun. I immediately glanced to my right and the zombies, even from several blocks up the street, started running towards us. At the sound of the stampeed, zombies from the park were running towards here.

"Remind me what the population was," Edward asked.

"8,109" I said.

"Looks about right." Without looking, I ran to the East, down the avenue. A few were running towards us in that direction and without slowing down I turned towards where we came to get back to Rosalie's team. I looked behind me for a brief moment and saw it was just me, Noah and Eric. There were so many behind us and I didn't want to lead them all to where we had parked so I ran into a small market with it's doors wide open to try to use it like a bottle neck and trap the horde inside while we ran out of it's cellar doors out onto the sidewalk.

"In here!" I yelled.

I headed straight for the meat section where there would be a door the butchers carried the packaged meat out. It was propped open with a door stopper. As soon as Eric and Noah were clear, I closed the knobbed door, it locking automatically and we started looking for the basement door. The zombies growled and banged against the door. We found it quickly in the small, rotten butcher back section and trekked down the concrete steps into the dark basement, pulling the door closed over our heads. Right now a flashlight would come in handy, but it was attached to my backpack in the truck. We fumbled in the door until we found it and by then the horde had broken through the door upstairs. Eric and Noah pushed short stacks of crates over to create a barrier while I got the doors open. The cellar door from inside the store gave in from the horde's weight, and they fell into the basement. Noah climbed onto the boxes while Eric shot at them, then turned to pull him up. He slammed against our barrier, toppling it, and those still alive started climbing over it. I kicked at their heads hard, but more climbed over their bodies, the height giving them an advantage. Next to me, Noah was fighting to keep from their grasp himself. I wanted to save myself but them too. _A classmate or a virologist?_ my brain asked me.

"Noah, let's go!" I had already undid the latch, and he and I pushed the rusty doors open, and I pushed him out onto the street, crawling out after him.

"Just go!" Eric yelled, "Don't miss the fucking plane!" I looked inside before closing the doors, and saw him against the wall, his stump holding up the rifle, geared to keep shooting. The doors slammed shut and Noah and I ran down the street. We were a few feet away when we saw the other groups and Edward jumping into the cars. On either side of the road, I saw they were running from their own problems.

"Wait! Carlisle's-" Nikki said as I jumped into the truck bed. I looked around quickly and saw Esme crying in the corner almost fighting Edward, who was consoling her, to go back.

"Just go!" Edward growled.

"Where's Eric?" Jacob asked. I stayed silent. Jasper stepped on the gas hard and drove off full throttle to break through the undead in front of us.

"Do we at least have enough?" I heard Jasper say.

"Not really." Rosalie responded. We turned at the corner and went back on the road we came in, the townspeople running after us. When we made it out he slowed down to avoid burning off the gas we had too fast. The horde remained a black dot far away behind us.

"Heiden...?" Noah asked Liard. Liard nodded. I put my head between my legs and willed myself not to think of anything.

* * *

After a while of driving in silence, I've mastered staring at passing scenery and focused at nothing else. A long time later the sun went down and the scenery hadn't changed at all. It was common, but it made it hard to tell if we were close. When we felt the car slowing down, we looked around as if we were lost.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"We're out of gas." Jasper said. "Get the flashlights, let's start running. We have no idea how much time we have."

The Cullens got out of the truck and started running down the road. The rest of us stumbled out of the truck bed after a moment and ran after them, turning the lights on. We jogged for a while before picking up the pace. I focused on my breathing so I didn't go out of breath quickly and would last longer.

Our ribs started cramping at some point of course, and we were struggling to keep going at the same pace, dry-mouth and out of breath.

"We're almost there," Edward said to us. "Everything we've been through, everyone who's died, this will make it worth it."

"We're going to make it." Quil said. At that, we all pushed ourselves to go faster. We ran like zombies were chasing after us. One last run from zombies.

...

We kept going, and pulled each other forward when we slowed down. In front of me Rosalie and Emmett were holding hands, on my left, Liard and Nikki were helping Brent keep at our pace. At my right were the rest.

"Hurry! I see the checkpoint!" Edward shouted, and pointed at something down the road.

"Wait, what if it's a trap?!" I screamed. I didn't really know why I said it myself.

"It can't be," Liard huffed.

"I dunno, I'm just scared." I said, and remained quiet.

"Does anybody hear that?" Lissa asked.

"Hear what?" Noah asked her.

"Like there's more footsteps,"

"You're just psyching yourself out." Liard told her. Lissa pointed her flashlight behind us for a moment before turnnig back.

There wasn't anyone at the check point, of course there wasn't, it wasn't safe, but the Cullens could see the airstrip from here, down the road on our left. As we got closer, we could see lots of lights and make out the silhouette of an army cargo plane behind the fence. It was the same chain linked fence with barbed wire like at the airfield, but there wasn't a door here.

"Fuck it, climb. They'll know we're humans because of our flashlights." Edward said. He and Jasper stayed on the ground while the rest of us climbed first.

"Don't get cut on the wire," Jasper warned. I grasped the outer side of the fence with one hand and the inner side with the other, but my jacket got snagged on the spikes. I tugged at it hard and lost my grip, falling past the others who were climbing down, full force onto my leg.

"Oh, _fuck_!" I covered my mouth to try and muffle my cries. _Don't cry, don't cry-_

Edward quickly came over and gripped my knee to see if it was broken.

"No!" I screamed.

"It's okay," He said to me, and picked me up in his arms. He turned to make sure everyone was on this side before walking towards the airstrip. Silhouettes of soldiers with large guns appeared and we stopped for a second then they moved to where the work lights were. The hatch of the plane was open and it's ramp dodwn, but we went towards them first.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" One of them asked.

"No, we left them behind." Edward answered.

"Are any of you infected?" Someone with a white arm band with a red cross on it came to us.

"No." Edward responded. The army doc checked each of our eyes for any sign of infection before letting us pass.

"Alright, go on." The man said, lowering his weapon. We started up the ramp and someone inside told us where to buckle up and how. The soldiers helped us do that while the ramp was retracted and the hatch closed. The blades on the roof whirred loudly as the plane was started, and we were shaken roughly when it took off.

"There here," The pilot said. Out the window, I could see the zombies clutching the fence where they could, climbing ontop of each other, over and over, and were nearly over the top when the plane changed direction and I couldn't see anymore.

* * *

 **Whew. There's so much to say and so little considering how much people are willing to read.** You know I was really hoping I didn't take so long writing this fic, and I guess I didn't compared to the others of this length, but it's been a year, and a year's a year. I'm happy this fic is the first of it's kind, probably isn't now, but that's ok. I bet when I come back to edit this I'll hate my writing, and be surprised at what happens since I would have forgotten, but I suppose it's not so bad for doing research quickly when I had to then writing after and posting when I was finally happy with the chapter. My spelling checker isn't working because wifi and rain don't mix but I looked over it and I wanted to post it right away, you've waited so long and I've worked on it for, like, 2 weeks. Not that I don't care, I just need to move on to my novel and I have to finish other fics because I feel like shit that I've kept people waiting so long. Like a lot of people.

I did do my copyright research and I don't want to spam this place with it, but I'll send it to anyone who PM's me for it and post it on this 'story' I published (called 'STORIES') for just my other work so anyone who clicks on it will find it. Anyway, I've been inspired by this with new ideas to make a zombie apocalypse story good and for another idea, this one. This story was originally supposed to be really light and fun, like Vampire Kisses, but I like it this way too. It'll be revamped, I'll work hard to make it great, and more polished, how I like it. Like I said, I want this to be a 'choose your own adventure' story where your decisions change your ending. This is the 'female protagonist is human' ending. If you read this far, here's your reward: (guy jabs another about his aim above a horde) "I've got 99 problems and my aim ain't one of them!". Thank you so much for reading, wish me luck on my career (cuz my fiancee doesn't really get it and I don't have friends), and hopefully I'll see you next time. So out of curiosity, what twilight fic plot would you like to see that you can't find?


	33. Final Character Index

Character Index

 _The New Group_

Noah...Alive

Juneau...Alive

Lissa...Alive

Liard...Alive

Heiden...Dead (Cause of death: He was scared and it was his downfall.)

...

 **The Cullen Group**

Carlisle...Dead (Cause of death: He was infected while trying to protect Esme and tore his own head off.)

Esme...Alive

Jasper...Alive

Alice...Alive

Rosalie...Alive

Emmett...Alive

Edward...Alive *Now head of the family alongside Japser

Bella... Human

Eric...Dead (Cause of death: Became brave and saved others as a result)

Jacob...Alive

Quil...Alive

Nikki...Alive

Jordyn...Alive

Brent...Alive

* * *

 **To those who favorite and follow from here on out, thank you so much, know that I see that you have and that I appreciate it lots.**

Just patting myself on the back now, I've been more productive this year than ever since I started writing. I was a late bloomer so I'm not as good as I would be had I been writing since 5th grade. I wasn't really getting ideas until I was about 17. I dunno what happened. Now I have enough work for the rest of my life and I hope to put a novel/graphic novel in your hands one day. It's my dream touch everyone, make them happy and inspire people. Right now, this is the only way I have to do that. I wish you all the best of luck and happiness.

PS: If you're thinking of posting a fic, do it. It's awesome, rewarding, and you'll learn a lot and become a better writer if you do. Because of this fic, I've stretched out my brain and imagination, and I'm sure I'll be able to write the psychologically heavy ideas I have. Doubt in yourself is normal and common, but it only goes away when you prove yourself wrong.


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